Beware of Covid-19 super spreaders

Venues, events and individuals to continue to challenge containment strategies of public health officials in coming weeks

Hyderabad: Super spreading individuals, events and venues that encourage mass gathering in Hyderabad and surrounding areas, will continue to challenge the containment strategies of public health officials. The coming weeks coincide with the season of festivals and further ease of restrictions, as part of unlock 5.0 guidelines, could potentially pave the way for super spreading events in urban centres of the State, public health officials fear.

Extensive Covid-19 restrictions since the past six months have made the general public restless and desperate to venture out. As a result, there is a rush to visit places like waterfalls, reservoirs in and around Hyderabad and public places like Durgam Cheruvu Bridge, which have a potential to become super-spreading venues.

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In this background, the State public health department has already sounded an alarm with respect to the Durgam Cheruvu cable-stayed bridge. “People must realise that the cable bridge was constructed with good intentions and keeping in mind the travelling needs of commuters. The huge structure will not vanish in a day or two and there will be adequate time for everybody to visit the place. Rushing to the structure to have a look will only end up attracting a lot of people at one place. Mass gatherings must be avoided at any cost,” says Director of Public Health, Dr G Srinivasa Rao.

Senior physicians in Hyderabad have said that there are adequate studies indicating super spreaders as being a major reason for the non-stop Covid-19 infections in the country.

Study in TN and AP

A few days ago, for the first time in the country, a Covid-19 study in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, highlighting the role of super spreaders in the outbreak was published in the reputed journal Science.

The study, which was based on tracing three million contacts in TN and AP in August, indicated that a particular set or group of patients amounting to about 8 per cent of Covid positive cases in India caused almost 60 per cent of the new infections.

The study, which was led by Ramanan Laxminarayan, Director for Centre for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy in Washington, USA, said that children were efficient transmitters of the virus.

“We identify high prevalence of infection among children who were contacts of cases around their own age. School closures and other non-pharmaceutical interventions during the study period may have contributed to reductions in contact among children. Nonetheless, our analyses suggest social interactions among children may be conducive to transmission in this setting,” the study said.

Potential hazard

1. Super spreader means a Covid-19 positive person infecting large number of people
2. Super spreader venues are places like bars, restaurants, public places like waterfalls and reservoirs
3. Children spreading infection among themselves and even to adults, despite staying at home
4. A bus or a train ride for a long time is a major threat for getting infected
5. Study says 60% of infections in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh caused by 8% of people
6. There is a need to understand role of asymptomatic super spreaders
7. Study raises questions on whether schools should be re-opened, if children are transmitting the virus

 

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