Direct contact with people increases the likelihood of viral spread as opposed to touching contaminated surfaces. This was revealed by US government Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and affirmed by repeated laboratory experiments, according to the Washington Post. Researchers say that hygiene is still important especially hand-washing. But physical distancing measures are key to avoid the spread of virus according to the new evidence.
A recent CDC report reiterated the new findings citing "how a choir practice in Washington state in March became a super-spreader event when one sick person infected as many as 52 others." This may encourage complacency about physical distancing among people and a change in behavior regarding social contacting as it is expected people would take the new messaging seriously. However, it could also have a "detrimental effect" on personal hygiene, for instance hand-washing, virologist at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health Angela L. Rasmussen warned. He also highlighted that "the problem of clear messaging" from the relevant authorities and govt leadership persists amid pandemic and we are still learning.
The microbe’s affinity for density has been exhibited from many cases and examples. It has been observed that COVID-19 spreads easily and quickly in places with higher density of population where many people were living or working in proximity like nursing homes, prisons, cruise ships and meatpacking plants. The experiments also affirmed that the virus remained potentially viable on cardboard for up to 24 hours and on plastic and metal surfaces for up to three days, but degrades within hours when outside a host. With these findings, the CDC updated its website under the headline “How COVID-19 Spreads.
Being close to an infected person would increase your likelihood to get coronavirus, "rather than accepting a newspaper or a FedEx guy dropping off a box,” said virologist and researcher Vincent Munster, as reported in the US media.
A recent CDC report reiterated the new findings citing "how a choir practice in Washington state in March became a super-spreader event when one sick person infected as many as 52 others." This may encourage complacency about physical distancing among people and a change in behavior regarding social contacting as it is expected people would take the new messaging seriously. However, it could also have a "detrimental effect" on personal hygiene, for instance hand-washing, virologist at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health Angela L. Rasmussen warned. He also highlighted that "the problem of clear messaging" from the relevant authorities and govt leadership persists amid pandemic and we are still learning.
The microbe’s affinity for density has been exhibited from many cases and examples. It has been observed that COVID-19 spreads easily and quickly in places with higher density of population where many people were living or working in proximity like nursing homes, prisons, cruise ships and meatpacking plants. The experiments also affirmed that the virus remained potentially viable on cardboard for up to 24 hours and on plastic and metal surfaces for up to three days, but degrades within hours when outside a host. With these findings, the CDC updated its website under the headline “How COVID-19 Spreads.
Being close to an infected person would increase your likelihood to get coronavirus, "rather than accepting a newspaper or a FedEx guy dropping off a box,” said virologist and researcher Vincent Munster, as reported in the US media.