Coronavirus is contagious, but thankfully it doesn't know how to jump like lice or fleas. Although while the virus itself doesn't have legs, the World Health Organization describes how these pests have also been known to carry disease (think plague) so it's always a good idea to avoid that risk anyway. When experts describe the coronavirus "jumping," they are referring to the mutation that causes an otherwise benign virus to mutate and move from animals to make humans sick through the infiltration of their cells as described in Quanta Magazine. Instead, humans are the main source of worry.

While the virus can't jump without help, it can be spread through coughs, sneezes, or socially-awkward speaking (say it, don't spray it). A single cough can produce up to 3,000 droplets and these droplets of virus can live for several days on hard surfaces like metal, glass, or plastic. There's even evidence that the virus may have the potential to stay alive in the air, as researcher Jamie Lloyd-Smith of UCLA told NPR. However, NPR noted, "Lloyd-Smith says this experiment definitely does not prove that people have been infected this way by particles of virus that float in the air, what scientists call aerosolized transmission. He says what remains unknown is what dose is needed to infect someone." So while this novel flu virus may not be able to jump, it's important to practice social distancing and sanitization.