Researchers in South Korea find that people are more likely to contract COVID-19 at home.

A study published by the CDC showed that more people contracted the disease from their own families compared to non-household contacts in South Korea.

On July 16, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a report titled 'Contact Tracing during Coronavirus Disease Outbreak, South Korea, 2020.' They looked in detail at 5,706 'index patients' who had tested positive for the coronavirus and more than 59,000 people who came into contact with them. CDC describes an index case as 'the first identified laboratory-confirmed case or the first documented case in an epidemiologic investigation within a cluster.' The study found that while only 2 in 100 people contracted the virus from non-household contact, 1 in 10 people contracted the virus from their own families.

Reuters reported that the data for the study were collected between January 20 and March 27, when the new coronavirus spread exponentially, and as daily infections in South Korea peaked. CDC also noted that transmission within households varies from country to country, which may reflect variation in households and country-specific strategies on COVID-19 containment and mitigation.

The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a lot of potentially dangerous misinformation. For reliable advice on COVID-19 including symptoms, prevention and available treatment, please refer to the World Health Organisation or your national healthcare authority.

Reference links

Reuters

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Emerging Infectious Diseases journal

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World Health Organization

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