Thread by @AbraarKaran

THREAD

1/ An important new paper in @CDC_EIDjournal examines #covid19 clusters in Japan.

Clusters spanned:

•healthcare facilities
•nursing homes
•day care centers
•restaurants
•bars
•clubs
•music events
•gyms

wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26…

1.5/ They note a sizable spread from primary cases to subsequent clusters without any symptoms (see later tweets).

The takeaways for me are: masks, especially in these specific situations or similar ones. And avoiding unnecessary cluster-prone activities.

2/ “We observed clusters of #COVID19 cases from 18 (30%) healthcare facilities; 10 (16%) care facilities of other types, such as nursing homes and day care centers; 10 (16%) restaurants or bars; 8 (13%) workplaces;

3/ “7 (11%) music-related events, such as live music concerts, chorus group rehearsals, and karaoke parties; 5 (8%) gymnasiums; 2 (3%) ceremonial functions; and 1 (2%) transportation-related incident in an airplane.”

4/ “The largest non–healthcare-related cluster we observed was among >30 persons who attended a live music concert, including performers, audience members, and event staff.”

5/ “For 16 clusters, we determined the date of transmission from probable primary case-patients to other case-patients in a cluster and found 41% (9/22) of probable primary case-patients were presymptomatic or asymptomatic at the time of transmission”

6/ “We noted many #COVID19 clusters were associated with heavy breathing in close proximity, such as singing at karaoke parties, cheering at clubs, having conversations in bars, & exercising in gyms. Other studies have noted such activities can facilitate clusters of infection.”

7/ The public health authorities “advised the population to avoid the “Three Cs”: closed spaces with poor ventilation, crowded places, and close-contact settings.”

This, combined with mass production of better masks, could possibly get things moving forward in the US.