KIU, Western Campus - Just one in ten people who catch COVID-19 pass it on to someone they live with, a study has found - according to UK newspaper Dailymail. 

US researchers analyzed data from more than 7,000 homes in Boston and found more than 25,000 people lived there between March 4 and May 17, 2020.

In this time frame, 7,262 people caught COVID-19 but they only passed it on to a further 1,809 people they lived with, a transmission rate of 10.1 percent. 

The paper also found the likelihood of passing the virus on to someone you live with was lower for bigger households. 

For example, someone in a home with three to five people — one of whom was infected — was 20 percent less at risk than a two-person house. 

The findings back up other research which has found a similarly low secondary attack rate of the virus in households.

A review of 54 studies also published in JAMA Network Open in December 2020 found a household transmission rate of 16.6 percent.

These new findings back the decision by governments all over the world to encourage their citizens to spend more time indoors including adoption of e-learning systems for students and encouraging workers to work from home.

Additional reporting by Collins Kakwezi

Picture credit: Lab Manager