The world has spent the last few months wearing masks in public, avoiding meetings and generally spending less time away from home. But a new report suggests that domestic transmission is one of the most common forms of COVID-19 spread; a person is more likely to contract COVID-19 with their spouse or significant other.
This finding is part of a new report from the University of Florida that was published in the journal JAMA network open Monday. The researchers examined the results of 54 studies in 20 countries that included about 78,000 subjects.
They found that more than one in three, approximately 38%, of COVID-19 patients passed the virus to their spouses or other significant people with whom they live.
“The risk of infection was higher for spouses, followed by non-spouse family members and other relatives, who were all higher than others. [close] contacts, “the authors wrote.
In the studies, approximately 17% of patients with COVID-19 transmitted the virus to the children they live with.
Anyone living in the same household as someone who has contracted the coronavirus is at high risk, but researchers say spouses and other significant people are more likely to go through the virus for a variety of reasons, including “privacy, sleeping in it.” room or longer “. or more direct exposure to index cases, ”according to the report’s authors.
The researchers found no significant difference between male and female transmission rates inside the home.
A recent study of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 53% of people living with someone who has COVID-19 will contract the virus within seven days.
Health experts have urged those who have COVID-19 or have symptoms to wear a mask at home and isolate themselves in the house as much as possible, away from others under the same roof.