Posted on 01/02/22
| News Source: knx1070
Recently released research indicates that it is possible to catch COVID-19 from someone who is in a completely different room.
The research is expected to be published in the March 2022 edition of Emerging Infectious Diseases journal and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shared it as an early release. There may be changes before final publication.
According to the research, an episode of airborne transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 delta variant occurred between people who were in “separate nonadjacent rooms 2.135 meters (7 feet) apart,” and “this conclusion is supported by multiple lines of evidence.” Scientists based this conclusion on an incident that occurred in New Zealand – where international arrivals are quarantined to undergo COVID screenings – this summer.
A traveler arrived in New Zealand July 16 from the Philippines and was placed in a managed quarantine facility, said the research. They tested positive for COVID-19 on July 17 and were transferred to a managed isolation facility on July 19. Although asymptomatic, the individual was considered infectious through July 27 and released from the isolation facility on July 31.
Before the traveler from the Philippines arrived in New Zealand, five people traveling together from the United Arab Emirates arrived in the country on July 14. They were also quarantined in a managed quarantine facility. One member of the group, identified as Person E, had a positive test result they day they arrived in New Zealand, so the group was transferred to the managed isolation facility the following day.
At the facility, the group occupied two rooms across the hall from the person from the Philippines, who is identified as Person A. On the day Person A arrived at the facility, Person E was experiencing upper respiratory tract infection symptoms and another positive test the day before.
Another member of the group from the United Arab Emirates identified as Person B experienced upper respiratory tract infection symptoms on July 17 and 18. They tested negative for COVID-19 on July 18 but positive for rhinovirus/enterovirus. Eventually, Person B and two other members of the group tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 from July 27 to Aug. 9.
The fifth member – who had received two doses of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine and was the only one in the group who was vaccinated – never tested positive, despite sharing a room with the others. All stayed at the isolation facility through Aug. 25.