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A single airline passenger who unknowingly fell ill with coronavirus managed to infect 15 other people aboard the 10-hour trip to Vietnam, highlighting the dangers of traveling amid the pandemic.
The global health crisis had only just begun to spread across Europe when the plane took off from a London airport in March. By the time it landed in the Vietnamese city of Hanoi, 12 business class passengers, two economy passengers and a single crew member had contracted the rapidly spreading disease.
American researchers behind a new study by the Centers for Disease Control, due to be published in November, identified a 27-year-old businesswoman from Vietnam as the likely source of the outbreak. She had been based in London since the beginning of January and was experiencing a sore throat prior to her return home.
“On February 22, Case 1 and her sister returned to Milan, Italy, and subsequently traveled to Paris, France, for the annual Fashion Week before returning to London on February 25,” they wrote in the magazine. Emerging infectious diseases.
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Around that time, few cases had been reported in Britain and masks had not yet been required for the flight, which departed on March 1.
“She was sitting in business class and continued to experience a sore throat and cough throughout the flight,” the researchers added.
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The researchers believe that the masks are an effective tool to prevent the spread of the virus, but have called for additional precautions and detection procedures on board (file photo).
Five days later, he went to the hospital and tested positive for coronavirus.
The CDC investigators then tracked down the 217 passengers and crew, tested them for the virus, and quarantined them.
The researchers said there was no other likely way any of the 15 people could have been infected other than by exposure to the sick patient.
“The most likely route of transmission during flight is the aerosol or droplet transmission of Case 1, particularly for people seated in business class,” they wrote.
“The contact with Case 1 could also have occurred outside the plane at the airport, particularly among business class passengers in the pre-departure waiting room or during boarding.”
And while the researchers believe the masks are an effective tool to prevent the spread of the virus, they called for additional onboard precautions and screening procedures.
“The risk of onboard transmission of SARS-CoV-2 during long flights is real and has the potential to cause sizable Covid-19 clusters, even in business class environments with spacious seats far beyond the set distance used. to define close contact in airplanes ”, concluded the study.
– New York Daily News
