SEOUL, July 21 (Reuters) – South Korean epidemiologists found that people were more likely to contract the new coronavirus from members of their own homes than from contacts outside the home.
A study published in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on July 16 examined in detail 5,706 “index patients” who had tested positive for the coronavirus and more than 59,000 people who entered contact them.
The findings showed that only two out of every 100 infected people had contracted the virus from non-domestic contacts, while one in 10 had contracted the disease from their own families.
By age group, the infection rate within the home was higher when the first confirmed cases were adolescents or people in their 60s and 70s.
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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo during the coronavirus pandemic
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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks at a press conference on July 6, 2020 in New York City, where he announced that President Donald Trump is allowing the coronavirus pandemic by not wearing a mask and minimizing the problem. . (TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP photo) (TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP photo via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – JULY 6: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks during a COVID-19 briefing on July 6, 2020 in New York City. On the 128th day since the first confirmed case in New York and on the first day of Phase 3 of the reopening, Governor Cuomo asked New Yorkers to continue to be smart while citing the rise in infections in other states. (Photo by David Dee Delgado / Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – JULY 6: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks during a COVID-19 briefing on July 6, 2020 in New York City. On the 128th day since the first confirmed case in New York and on the first day of Phase 3 of the reopening, Governor Cuomo asked New Yorkers to continue to be smart while citing the rise in infections in other states. (Photo by David Dee Delgado / Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – JULY 6: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks during a COVID-19 briefing on July 6, 2020 in New York City. On the 128th day since the first confirmed case in New York and on the first day of Phase 3 of the reopening, Governor Cuomo asked New Yorkers to continue to be smart while citing the rise in infections in other states. (Photo by David Dee Delgado / Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – JULY 1: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks at a press conference on July 1, 2020 in New York City. The Governor expressed alarm to the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci’s recent prediction that there could be 100,000 new cases of Covid-19 per day and provided a series of updates related to an increase in states outside of Los State visitors must quarantine for 14 days. (Photo by Byron Smith / Getty Images)
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES – 2020/06/24: Governor Andrew Cuomo makes an announcement and holds a press conference at the 3rd Avenue office. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont joined Cuomo with the announcement of the incoming travel notice that all people traveling from states with significant community spread of COVID-19 quarantine for a period of 14 days from the last contact within the identified state. This quarantine applies to anyone arriving from a state with a positive test rate greater than 10 per 100,000 residents for a 7-day moving average or a state with a positivity rate of 10% or more over a moving average of 7 days. (Photo by Lev Radin / Pacific Press / LightRocket via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES – 2020/06/24: Governor Andrew Cuomo makes an announcement and holds a press conference at the 3rd Avenue office. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont joined Cuomo with the announcement of the incoming travel notice that all people traveling from states with significant community spread of COVID-19 quarantine for a period of 14 days from the last contact within the identified state. This quarantine applies to anyone arriving from a state with a positive test rate greater than 10 per 100,000 residents for a 7-day moving average or a state with a positivity rate of 10% or more over a moving average of 7 days. (Photo by Lev Radin / Pacific Press / LightRocket via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – JULY 6: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks during a COVID-19 briefing on July 6, 2020 in New York City. On the 128th day since the first confirmed case in New York and on the first day of Phase 3 of the reopening, Governor Cuomo asked New Yorkers to continue to be smart while citing the rise in infections in other states. (Photo by David Dee Delgado / Getty Images)
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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo gets out of his car when it hits the New York Stock Exchange to ring the opening bell when the trading floor partially reopens on Tuesday, May 26, 2020. (AP Photo / Mark Lennihan)
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo briefs the media during a coronavirus press conference at his New York City office on Saturday, May 9, 2020. (John Roca / New York Post via AP, Pool)
In this photo provided by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s Office, Governor Cuomo reports to the media at Marist College, Friday, May 8, 2020, in Poughkeepsie, New York. On Friday, the Governor extended the deadline for filing the Child Victims Act until January 2021 allowing extra time, allowing New York residents who were sexually abused as children to sue those responsible. The extended deadline is to compensate for reduced judicial services during the coronavirus pandemic. (Darren McGee / Office of the Governor Andrew M. Cuomo via AP)
In this photo provided by the Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, New York Governor Cuomo tests a spraying device that is part of a three-step disinfection process of a New York City subway car in Downtown of Corona Maintenance in the Queens District of New York on Saturday, May 2, 2020. Cuomo announced on Thursday, April 30 that New York City is closing its subway system every day from 1 am to 5 am to increase cleaning of trains and stations during the coronavirus crisis. (Kevin P. Coughlin / Office of the Governor Andrew M. Cuomo via AP)
In this photo provided by the Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, an employee of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, on the left, explains part of a three-step disinfecting process of a New York City subway car to the Governor of New York Andrew M. Cuomo at the Corona Maintenance Facility in the Queens borough of New York on Saturday, May 2, 2020. Governor Cuomo announced on Thursday, April 30 that New York City will close its subway system. every day from 1 am to 5 am to increase the cleanliness of trains and stations during the coronavirus crisis. (Kevin P. Coughlin / Office of the Governor Andrew M. Cuomo via AP)
SYRACUSE, NY – APRIL 28: New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks during his daily press conference on Coronavirus at SUNY Upstate Medical University on April 28, 2020 in Syracuse, New York. Cuomo detailed guidelines for reopening parts of New York state around May 15, 2020. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / Getty Images)
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“This is probably because these age groups are more likely to be in close contact with family members, as the group needs more protection or support,” said Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of the Centers for Control and the Korea Disease Prevention (KCDC) and one of the study’s authors, said in a briefing.
Children age nine and younger were less likely to be the index patient, said Dr. Choe Young-june, an assistant professor at Hallym University School of Medicine who co-directed the work, though he noted that the sample size 29 was small compared to 1,695 from 20 to 29 years studied.
Children with COVID-19 were also more likely to be asymptomatic than adults, making it difficult to identify index cases within that group.
“The difference in age group is not of great importance when it comes to contracting COVID-19. Children may be less likely to transmit the virus, but our data is not sufficient to confirm this hypothesis,” Choe said.
Data for the study was collected between January 20 and March 27, when the new coronavirus was spreading exponentially and daily infections in South Korea peaked.
KCDC has reported 45 new infections as of Monday, bringing the country’s total cases to 13,816 with 296 deaths. (Report by Sangmi Cha; Catherine Evans Edition)
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