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COVID-19 can spread even before people show symptoms: Study


15 March 2020  

Time taken to read : 2 Minute


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NEW YORK: With COVID-19 outbreak killing over 5,400 people globally, researchers have identified how quickly the novel coronavirus can spread and that the time between cases in a chain of transmission is less than a week and that more than 10 percent of patients contract the virus by an infected person who hasn’t yet shown symptoms.

In a study, published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, the research team from the US, France, China and Hong Kong were able to calculate what”s called the serial interval of the virus.

To measure serial interval, scientists look at the time it takes for symptoms to appear in two people with the virus: the person who infects another, and the infected second person.

“Our findings are corroborated by instances of silent transmission and rising case counts in hundreds of cities worldwide. This tells us that COVID-19 outbreaks can be elusive and require extreme measures,” said the study’s researcher Lauren Ancel Meyers, Professor at the University of Texas in the US.

According to the researchers, the speed of an epidemic depends on two things — how many people each case infects and how long it takes cases to spread.

(With inputs from agencies)

Publish Date : 15 March 2020 09:28 AM

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