8% of Super-spreaders account for 60% of new infections [View all]

[BlueWavePsych]

Largest study of COVID-19 transmission highlights essential role of super-spreaders

Extensive contact tracing in two southern Indian states offers the strongest evidence yet that a few super-spreading individuals are responsible for a disproportionate share of new coronavirus infections, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Science. It also suggests that children are more efficient transmitters of the virus than widely believed.

Laxminarayan and his colleagues found that just 8% of people with COVID-19 accounted for 60% of the new infections observed among the contacts.

“Super-spreading events are the rule rather than the exception,” Laxminarayan said. “It has lots of implications for modeling COVID, for how to keep places safe.”

The study also found that although children younger than 17 were the least likely to die of COVID-19, they transmitted the virus at rates similar to the rest of the population, underscoring the idea that the disease doesn’t spare young people. One data point in particular holds implications for reopening schools: Children ages 5 to 17 passed the virus to 18% of close contacts their own age.

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-09-30/largest-covid-19-transmission-study-highlights-super-spreaders

Sturgis. Tulsa. Drumpf rallies. Premature school openings.