COVID-19 Spreads Quicker When People Live Together Than SARS And MERS

A study published in The Lancet has found evidence that COVID-19 spreads easily in households and where people live in close proximity. The researchers identified 195 close-contact groups in the Chinese city of Guangzhou between January 7 and February 18, 2020 and found out that the novel coronavirus can spread even before an infected person shows any symptoms.

The researchers, however, also stated that the study has limitations and is based on assumptions including about the length of incubation period, the infectivuty of asymptomatic infections during their incubation period and the researcher's inability to reliably quantify the infectivity of asymptomatic infections.