LONDON: A research has claimed that coronavirus is twice more infectious within households without showing any symptoms.
The researchers said that their findings could have profound impacts on reducing the number of new infections as the pandemic progresses.
Using data on selected COVID-19 patients and nearly 2,000 of their close contacts in the city of Guangzhou, China, the researchers estimated the virus’s secondary attack rate, that is, the probability that an infected person transmits the disease to someone else.
They found that while the average patient had just a 2.4 percent chance of infecting someone they did not live with, that figure jumped to 17.1 percent, around one in six, among cohabitants.
According to their models, which rely on data collated in January and February but have been updated to reflect the latest developments; the likelihood of household infection was highest among the over-60s, and lowest among under-20s.
The overall chances of infecting a family member or live-in partner with COVID-19 are twice as high as with SARS, and three times higher than MERS, another coronavirus, they found.
Significantly, the researchers found that the probability of a COVID-19 carrier infecting a family member or flatmate was significantly higher, 39 percent before they started showing symptoms than afterward.
This suggests that the virus is easily transmissible within its incubation period and may be passed on by individuals who don’t know they are infected.
ADVERTISEMENT
