Interesting

[Guderian]

'There have been NO proven infections while shopping or at the hairdressers': German scientist casts doubt on how coronavirus is spread - as experts comb 'Germany's Wuhan' for secrets about bug

• Prof Hendrik Streeck has said Covid-19 might not be spread as easily as thought
• Researchers to head to the small village of Heinsberg, next to the Dutch border 
• The research trip led by Prof Streeck will see 1,000 people in the area tested

By Terri-ann Williams For Mailonline

Published: 01:53 BST, 3 April 2020 | Updated: 08:40 BST, 3 April 2020

A leading scientist has cast doubts on how the coronavirus is spreading across the globe as a team of experts prepare to head out to a village that has been dubbed 'Germany's Wuhan', where they hope to unlock vital information about the bug.

Prof Hendrik Streeck, director of the Institute of Virology at the University Hospital in Bonnhas, said Covid-19 might not be spread as easily as people first believed.

Research conducted by Prof Streeck in one of Germany's worst-hit regions showed that the home of one infected family did not have 'any live virus on any surface', adding even more questions as to how the virus is spread from person to person.

The small village of Heinsberg, next to the Dutch border, is Germany's worst-hit area and is home to the country's most serious Covid-19 outbreak.

Across Germany as a whole there have been 79,696 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 1,017 deaths.

 

The area of Heinsberg is estimated to have around 1,302 confirmed cases and has had 37 deaths in a population of around 250,000.

Prof Streeck said the virus had not even been found on door knobs or animal fur. 

He told German TV that there had been 'no proven infections while shopping or at the hairdressers'.

It comes as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned measures may have to be tightened in the UK as many continue to flout social distancing guidelines, but Prof Streeck stressed there were still unknowns about how it is actually spreading.

'The virus spreads in other places: the party in Ischgl, the club in Berlin, the football game in Bergamo.

'We know it's not a smear infection that is transmitted by touching objects, but that close dancing and exuberant celebrations have led to infections.'

He said Germany's patient zero had only infected her colleagues and not other guests or diners at the hotel she had been staying at.

According to The Times a team of 40 research will now spend time in the Heinsberg in order to work out how the virus spreads and how people can become infected without knowing.

It could also shed light on how the disease could be slowed and its results could be instrumental in stopping the spread of the disease worldwide.

The chief minister of the surrounding state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Armin Laschet told The Times that the research trip will discover 'which of the steps we have taken and our deep intrusions into the lives of our citizens remain scientifically meaningful, and which aren't'.

When the outbreak was first discovered in the area many people were shunned and those entering other parts of Germany and the Netherlands with HL number plates were not welcome.

The research trip led by Prof Streeck will see 1,000 people in the area tested for the virus.

This will be instrumental and if it emerges that more people are carrying the disease without showing any symptoms, then governments have a huge task on their hands when it comes to preventing the spread.

But at the beginning of the outbreak the spread was containing due to the fact that the local council acted swiftly in putting restrictions upon residents.

On February 15 many gathered for Langbröker Dicke Flaa carnival in the villages of Langbroich and Harzelt.

It is at these festivals that many people are thought to have contracted the illness. 

Ten days after the carnival a couple in their forties who had attended were struck with respiratory issues. 

Within forty minutes of the news the local council set up a crisis team in order to put restrictions in place and control the spread. 

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8182767/Scientist-casts-doubt-coronavirus-spread.html

 

Edited April 3, 2020 by Guderian

[DrTuner]

Or, there might be hordes of unidentified asymptomatic cases. We'll see once wide spread antibody tests are executed on the general population.

[RJRS1301]

Very interesting, as virus was found on surfaces on the Diamond Jubilee 17 days after passengers diembarked