[ad_1]
An investigation published Tuesday tracked the airborne transmission of COVID-19 on a Chinese bus, whereby a single carrier was able to infect more than two dozen people on the bus.
This offers new evidence about the virus, about which more information arrives every few days, as medical professionals discover more about this virus.
Transmission beyond 2 meters
The investigation found that the person could infect people who weren’t even in the direct line of contact.
At the beginning of the pandemic, health authorities did not believe that the virus was transmitted through the air, that is, that the virus could send infectious droplets into the air. As the evidence kept coming in, the scientists changed their minds.
Read also: One in two hand sanitizers contains harmful chemicals that can be fatal to humans: study
The article published Tuesday in JAMA Internal Medicine took into account passengers who were on a 50-minute ride to a Buddhist event in the Chinese city of Ningbo and were aboard two buses in January. This was before face masks became a necessity in public places.
Patient zero?
According to the researchers, COVID-19 patient zero was the one who transmitted this virus to others on the bus, in the initial phases of the virus. The person, whose details were not released, contacted people from Wuhan, where the virus started in 2019.
Read also: Valved masks and face shields allow the spread of COVID-19: study
When scientists mapped and tracked everyone on the bus, they found that 23 out of 68 carried the virus.
Surprisingly, the virus was able to affect people who were even more than 1 to 2 meters (3 to 6 feet) away, which is considered the maximum parameter for the virus to spread. Those who were sitting in the front and back of the bus also got infected.
The only passenger who transmitted the virus to everyone else showed no symptoms of the virus on the bus.
In addition, it is possible that the air conditioning simply recirculated the air that was present in the bus, leading to further transmission of the virus.
