The second corona wave has arrived – and the uncertainty is growing again: Where can I still go? Who else to meet? What else to do A US study shows the places where the risk of infection is greatest.
The coronavirus is omnipresent: in the media, in our conversations with others, in our thoughts – maybe even in our dreams. The second wave has arrived and we are again living more with the uncertainty of how to behave properly. A question that worries many of us: which places are safe and which are not? Where can I go, which places should I avoid? A US study has now identified the three main drivers behind the spread of coronavirus. The team led by epidemiologist Elizabeth Lee from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore came to the following results.
1. Private households
At home – that is of course a place that you cannot avoid. Depending on the size of the family, there is always the risk of someone bringing the virus into your own four walls – even though you are not receiving your own visit. The scientists found that 46 to 66 percent of infections are household-based. Incidentally, this study result also fits the views of the Robert Koch Institute, which assumes that the majority of people become infected through their private environment.
2. Events
How does the virus get home? Sure, from outside. And events that are attended by many people are particularly dangerous. If, for example, a super spreader infects others without knowing that it has Corona, the virus spreads extremely quickly – in the past, this was the case, for example, at church services, in meat shops or at parties. Interesting: According to the study, 10 percent of corona-positives are responsible for 80 percent of infections.
3. Travel
Of course, every national trip also contributes to the spread of the virus. Of course, you can get infected yourself during a trip, but above all you transport the virus from A to B. According to experts, just a few long-distance travel connections are enough to spread Sars-CoV-2 around the world. Therefore, at the moment you should only travel if it is really necessary.
Ultimately, we can all only do our best to stop the virus from spreading: stay at home if possible, avoid crowds and travel little. We can only do it together!
For further reading: You want to know which activities have the greatest risk of infection? We spoke to an expert.
Sources used: ZDF Online, Science.sciencemag.org