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In a study published in the scientific journal Nature, researchers from Stanford, Northwestern University, Microsoft Research and Chan Zuckerberg Biohub in ten cities in the United States: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Washington, Houston, Atlanta, Miami, Philadelphia and San Francisco. the movement of its inhabitants was modeled on the basis of mobile phone data from March 1 to May 2. Approximately 98 million American movements have been traced from their homes to 553,000 locations. Based on the size of the area of these sites, it was calculated how many people were present at the site per square meter at the same time.
They also calculated how many infections may have occurred on the site and showed that only a small number of “super spread sites” are responsible for the majority of infections, according to the science news portal LiveScience. In Chicago, for example, 10 percent of those community sites were responsible for 85 percent of the infections. “Restaurants are by far the riskiest places, four times more risky than gyms and cafes that hotels keep looking for new infections,” quoted Jure Leskovec, a researcher at Stanford University and a researcher for The New website. York Times. lead author who presented his findings to journalists in a video conference.
Researchers say these places are riskier because more people stay there for longer periods of time. The least risky places mentioned were car dealerships and gas stations.
By focusing on indoor community sites, the researchers were also able to model the impact of partial restrictive measures. For example, allowing restaurants to use only 20 percent of their capacity has been shown to reduce the number of infections in these restaurants by 80 percent, while they can retain around 60 percent of their guests.
The researchers noted that not all community locations, including schools and offices, are included in their model. In addition, their study used data from the start of the epidemic, which may not be applicable to the spread of the infection today. For example, today, people are more aware of social distance or wear masks in restaurants. Public health experts have noted that many of the new epidemics in the United States today are the result of smaller gatherings in people’s homes.
However, the professionals hope that their findings can help the competent authority to impose restrictions in the second wave and provide guidance on reopening.
Cover image: Getty Images
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