--- title: BA.5 Outdoor Transmission: The Risk of Catching COVID-19 description: BA.5 seems to evade immunity from vaccines and past infections more easily than past subvariants, which experts say increases risk no matter where you are. canonical: https://time.com/6198005/outdoor-transmission-ba5-covid-19/ author: Tara Law article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-07-15T21:26:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:03:42.103Z article:section: Health og:title: Is It Easier to Get COVID-19 Outdoors with BA.5? og:description: BA.5 seems to evade immunity from vaccines and past infections more easily than past subvariants, which experts say increases risk no matter where you are. og:url: https://time.com/6198005/outdoor-transmission-ba5-covid-19/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f223faad4ac3387/698a33c0b21a9cea045063b0/COVID-19-outdoors.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 8192 og:image:height: 4608 og:image:alt: PORTLAND, OR - May 4th, 2022: On Wednesday, May 4th, 2022 a mix og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Is It Easier to Get COVID-19 Outdoors with BA.5? twitter:description: BA.5 seems to evade immunity from vaccines and past infections more easily than past subvariants, which experts say increases risk no matter where you are. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f223faad4ac3387/698a33c0b21a9cea045063b0/COVID-19-outdoors.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Is It Easier to Get COVID-19 Outdoors with BA.5? > Sponsored content. 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It just took the top spot in the U.S.: As of the last week of June, BA.5 made up more than half of all new COVID-19 cases, according to new estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That’s up 10 percentage points compared to the prior week._  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Jul 15, 2022 9:26 PM UTC  On Wednesday, May 4th, 2022 a mix of masked and unmasked individuals shop at the Portland Farmers Market in Shemanski Park in Portland, OR. On Wednesday, May 4th, 2022 a mix of masked and unmasked individuals shop at the Portland Farmers Market in Shemanski Park in Portland, OR. Leah Nash for the Washington Post  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Jul 15, 2022 9:26 PM UTC When the pandemic first began, COVID-19 seemed to lurk around every corner, so it came as a big relief when scientists established that the virus doesn’t easily [spread outdoors](https://time.com/5883081/covid-19-transmitted-aerosols/). This summer, however, that feeling of relative safety has come into question. Now that the [BA.5 subvariant](https://time.com/6193890/ba-5-omicron-dominant/) is driving a new wave in the U.S., can people count on the open air to keep them safe? The truth is that being outside has never been a sure way to avoid COVID-19 transmission—especially at crowded events, like[ music festivals](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/pendleton-whisky-music-faster-horses-covid-outbreaks-outdoor-transmission-1208842/), which have been linked to outbreaks in the past. “We certainly hear, in our study, of people who pretty clearly were infected outdoors, so it happens,” says Dr. Donald Milton, professor of environmental health at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, who is principal investigator of an [ongoing study](https://sites.google.com/umd.edu/stopcovid/home) on COVID-19 transmission. Of course, “it’s still a lower risk than indoors,” but Milton does not feel comfortable in every outdoor situation. “I didn’t go to the fireworks on July 4, and I have not been in any crowds,” he says. “My outdoor activities mostly consist of exercising, riding a bike, walking, and jogging.” BA.5 seems to evade immunity from vaccines and past infections more easily than past subvariants, which experts say increases risk no matter where you are. “We’re more susceptible hosts, and we’re more susceptible whether we’re inside or outside,” says Dr. Duane Wesemann, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and an immunologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. While scientists are still learning about BA.5, it’s increasingly clear that compared to past variants, it has advantages that help it bypass the immune system’s defenses. Like other Omicron subvariants, BA.5 has developed new mutations—in this case, in the spike protein, the part of the virus that binds to cells—which may help it to evade immunity, explains Bing Chen, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital who studies molecular medicine. “Our antibodies are a little less effective against BA.5 compared to BA.1 and Delta,” he says. BA.5’s increased transmission and our diminished immune defenses mean that COVID-19 transmission outdoors has become more likely. But that doesn’t mean that being outdoors isn’t going to provide some protection—especially if you also take other precautions. As always, context matters. Being in the open air and away from other people is safer than being in a crowd with worse air circulation—like in a packed baseball stadium without a breeze, says Milton. “Outdoors remains a much lower-risk setting than indoors,” says Linsey Marr, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech. “Transmission outdoors is most likely to occur in close, face-to-face conversation. There’s also the possibility of transmission if you happen to be close enough and downwind of someone who is infected.” The same precautions that keep you safe indoors can also help outside, including avoiding crowds and wearing a mask when you’re with other people. Being up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations can also make you safer, since the shots trigger the immune system to develop multiple types of defenses against COVID-19, says Wesemann. While the virus is increasingly good at getting around the neutralizing antibodies—which help prevent people from getting infected in the first place—vaccines also trigger longer-lasting types of immune responses. In the end, that means that vaccinated people who get infected with COVID-19 are less likely to become very sick or die from the disease—no matter [where they were infected](https://time.com/5883081/covid-19-transmitted-aerosols/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6198005/outdoor-transmission-ba5-covid-19/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6198005/outdoor-transmission-ba5-covid-19/"},"headline":"Is It Easier to Get COVID-19 Outdoors with BA.5?","datePublished":"2022-07-15T21:26:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:03:42.103Z","description":"BA.5 seems to evade immunity from vaccines and past infections more easily than past subvariants, which experts say increases risk no matter where you are.","url":"https://time.com/6198005/outdoor-transmission-ba5-covid-19/","keywords":["COVID Questions","COVID-19","healthscienceclimate"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f223faad4ac3387/698a33c0b21a9cea045063b0/COVID-19-outdoors.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara Law","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-law/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f223faad4ac3387/698a33c0b21a9cea045063b0/COVID-19-outdoors.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"PORTLAND, OR - May 4th, 2022: On Wednesday, May 4th, 2022 a mix","caption":"PORTLAND, OR - May 4th, 2022: On Wednesday, May 4th, 2022 a mix","creditText":"Leah Nash for the Washington Post","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/covid-questions/","name":"COVID Questions"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6198005/outdoor-transmission-ba5-covid-19/","name":"Is It Easier to Get COVID-19 Outdoors with BA.5?"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Now That BA.5 Is Dominant, Stopping It Will Be Difficult","description":"Around the world, the latest Omicron subvariant, BA.5, is quickly becoming the dominant strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. 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