A new study showed up to nine people can get infected travelling a half-full bus.
What’s it about? A study by scientists from Anna University and Puducherry-based ICMRVector Control Research Centre showed up to 9 people can get infected in a half-full city bus in Chennai if one passenger is Covid-19 positive. That number increases if there are more infected people on the bus.
- Scientists used the 21-G Tambaram to Boradway bus route for their study. They assumed five people would board or disembark at each of the 40 stops. The goal was to estimate the number of secondary infections on a long bus route.
- The reproductive number (RO) was calculated by accounting for travel time, time at each stop, the total number of passengers, and the volume of breathing space. The RO increases progressively over the trip’s duration.
Findings: At the journey’s end, the RO was 1.04. The number of secondary infections varies from 5 to 9 for each trip. Secondary infections are the highest at the destination terminus due to prolonged exposure.
(Image credits: PlaneMad, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons)
