Staying at Home can Increase Chances of being Infected by Covid-19

coronavirus, COVID-19, South Korea, index patients

What if I were to tell you that the one place you feel the safest is where the coronavirus is most likely to attack you? Our home where we are surrounded by our beloved family, is where all of us are the most vulnerable to the coronavirus infection. Did this fact scare the bejesus out of you? Well, if it helps, you’re not the only one who’s petrified.

According to a study conducted by the South Korean epidemiologists, you are more likely to contact the coronavirus infection at home than from someone outside. The data published in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, claims that nearly 5,706 positive coronavirus index patients, infected 59,000 people who came in their contact. According to the details of this study, only two out of every 100 people had contracted the infection from outside sources. But every one in 10 individuals, caught the coronavirus infection from household sources. Another startling observation was that infection rates were higher in teenagers and people over 60 years of age.

The Director of Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), Dr. Jeong Eun-kyeong, said, “This is probably because these age groups are more likely to be in close contact with family members as the group is in more need of protection or support.”

The index patients ages nine and under had a small sample size of only 29 volunteers compared to a sample size of 1695 volunteers between the ages 20-29 years. This means that the researchers have lesser information about the spread of coronavirus in ages nine and under. Assistant Professor, Hallym University College of Medicine, Dr. Choe Young-June, said, “The difference in age groups has no huge significance when it comes to contracting the coronavirus infection. Children could be less likely to transmit the virus, but our data is not enough to confirm this hypothesis.”

The South Korean scientists collected the data for their study between Jan 20 and March 27. This was the time when the coronavirus infection in South Korea was growing exponentially. As of now, the country’s total number of COVID-19 cases is 13,816. That being said, the research is only preliminary and the scientists are hustling every day to study more about the deadly virus.

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