CAPE TOWN- A recent study conducted in the United States linked more than 80 percent of Covid-19 infections to five locations that produced the largest predicted increases in infections when reopened.
In March, the study began using cellphone data to track the hourly movements of 98 million people from 57,000 neighborhoods to points of interest, like restaurants, churches and stores, for two months.
Researchers published their findings in the journal
Nature
and said their epidemiological model predicts that a small minority of “superspreader” account for a large majority of infections.
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A company named SafeGraph, collected the location data of the 98 million people by aggregating anonymous location data from mobile apps. The study focused on 10 of the largest U.S. cities, including Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia.
Overall, the researchers determined that the reopening of the five main locations or points of interest led to the largest increase in infections.
- Full-service restaurants and limited-service restaurants
- Gyms
- Hotels
- Cafés
- Religious organizations
https://twitter.com/nature/status/1326218319502991360
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