A lot of questions have been posed about the Wuhan novel coronavirus and perhaps most importantly, how quickly it can be transmitted from person to person. After all, we already know now that human-to-human transmission of the virus is likely the main method of transmission for most Wuhan novel coronavirus cases.
Source: NPR
As it turns out, it is highly likely that it will only take 15 seconds for a virus carrier to spread the infection to another healthy human, according to reports from Sin Chew Daily and China Press.
Source: China Press
This short and dangerous interval was calculated based upon an incident of a man who had recently been infected with the Wuhan novel coronavirus from Zhejiang, China. Despite not having traveled to Hubei, where reports of the virus are at its highest, or having been near exotic wildlife (like bats), he managed to contract the disease. How, you ask?
Source: China Press
According to epidemiological (the study of the distribution and control of diseases) studies of the man’s movements, the 56-year-old patient, who was in the Jiangbei area of Chongquing, China, may have caught the Wuhan novel coronavirus after spending time buying groceries between a few different markets.
Most notably, he was standing near a 61-year-old woman who was already exhibiting symptoms of the disease, for less than 15 seconds when they were both witnessing a celebration, before parting ways.
Neither of them were wearing a mask, which may likely be the main reason how the virus itself managed to be transmitted.
As a result of this discovery, 19 people who were seen in close contact with the patient have also been quarantined and are closely monitored.
In only 15 seconds, a healthy person could easily become a carrier of the virus, all because he wasn’t wearing a mask! We hope that those who were involved in the incident managed to pull through fine, and would like to remind everyone again to make sure you practice good hygiene habits!
Also read: M’sian Man With Coronavirus May Have Exposed 100s of People In Kedah & Kelantan To The Disease
