New Coronavirus Spreads

New Coronavirus Spreads
This website uses cookies to deliver its services as described in our Cookie Policy . By using this website, you agree to the use of cookies.

Common Conditions

ADD/ADHD

Allergies

Arthritis

Cancer

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Depression

Diabetes

Eye Health

Heart Disease

Lung Disease

Orthopedics

Pain Management

Sexual Conditions

Skin Problems

Sleep Disorders

View All

Resources

Symptom Checker

WebMD Blogs

Podcasts

Newsletters

Best Hospitals

Find a Doctor

Surgeries and Procedures A-Z

Featured Topics

Slideshow
Signs You Have Already Had COVID

Slideshow
Get Help for Migraine Relief

Find & Review

Drugs

Supplements

Drug Basics & Safety

Commonly Abused Drugs

Taking Meds When Pregnant

Tools

Manage Your Medications

Pill Identifier

Check for Interactions

Drug Comparison Tool

Featured Topics

Slideshow
Vitamins You Need as You Age

Coronavirus
COVID-19 Vaccines

Diet, Food & Fitness

Diet & Weight Management

Weight Loss & Obesity

Food & Recipes

Fitness & Exercise

Beauty & Balance

Healthy Beauty

Health & Balance

Sex & Relationships

Oral Care

Living Well

Women's Health

Men's Health

Aging Well

Healthy Sleep

Healthy Teens

All About Pregnancy

Getting Pregnant

First Trimester

Second Trimester

Third Trimester

View All

Parenting Guide

Newborn & Baby

Children's Health

Children's Vaccines

View All

Pet Care Essentials

Healthy Cats

Healthy Dogs

View All

Health News

Long COVID Mimics Other Post-Viral Conditions

U.S. Life Expectancy Drops to Lowest in Decades

With PFAS in Packaging, How Safe Is Microwave Popcorn?

Most Common Form of Bullying Isn't Physical or Verbal

U.S. Monkeypox Outbreak May Be Slowing

Experts & Community

Support Groups

WebMD Blogs

News Center

Dr. Whyte's Book: Take Control of Your Diabetes Risk

Coronavirus Home

Medical Reference

Features

Video

Slideshows & Images

Blogs

Health Tools

News Archive

Lung Disease & Respiratory Health Center

News

Reference

Slideshows

Quizzes

Videos

Find a Pulmonologist

Related to Lung Disease & Respiratory Health

Asthma

Allergies

Bronchitis

Cold, Flu & Cough

COPD

COVID-19

Cystic Fibrosis

Emphysema

Lung Cancer

Pneumonia

Pulmonary Hypertension

Quit-Smoking Assessment

Smoking Cessation

Tuberculosis

Tuberous Sclerosis

WebMD Medical Reference
Reviewed by Melinda Ratini, DO, MS on January 21, 2022

Health Solutions

Penis Curved When Erect?

Could I have CAD?

Treat Bent Fingers

Treat HR+, HER2- MBC

Tired of Dandruff?

Benefits of CBD

Rethink MS Treatment

AFib-Related Strokes

Risk of a Future DVT/PE

Is My Penis Normal?

Relapsing MS Options

Liver Transplants Save Lives

Finance Plastic Surgery

Bent Finger Causes

Living With Psoriasis?

Missing Teeth?

With cases of COVID-19 reported across the globe, health officials are focused on slowing the spread. By understanding how coronavirus spreads, you can take the right steps so you don't get sick and infect others.
Experts believe the virus that causes COVID-19 spreads mainly from person to person. There are several ways this can happen:
The virus most often spreads through people who have symptoms . But it is possible to pass it on without showing any signs. Some people who don't know they've been infected can give it to others. This is called asymptomatic spread. You can also pass it on before you notice any signs of infection, called presymptomatic spread.
Sometimes, a person can trace how they got the virus because they know that they've been in contact with someone who's sick. In other cases, the cause is unknown. Community spread is when someone gets the virus without any known contact with a sick person.
A few pets have tested positive for the new coronavirus. Not all of these animals had signs of illness, but some have had mild symptoms. The animals may have caught the virus from close contact with humans who were infected.
Public health officials say they are still studying COVID-19 but it appears that humans can transmit it to pets but not as likely that pets can transmit it to humans.
Many experts say the omicron COVID variant appears to be more infectious than the previous dominant strain, delta. The CDC hasn’t confirmed this. But the agency did predict that omicron would probably spread more easily than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Researchers say that on average, every person who has COVID-19 will pass it on to 2 or 2.5 others. One study says that number is even higher, with one sick person infecting between 4.7 and 6.6 others.
By comparison, someone who has the flu will probably give it to an average of 1.1 to 2.3 others. But one person with measles might spread it to 12 to 18 others.
Research has found that although children tend to get infected with the coronavirus less often and have milder symptoms than adults, they can still catch and spread it. Some have become seriously ill and even died.
It's highly unlikely that you'll catch COVID-19 from packages, groceries, or food. The important thing is to limit your contact with other people. If you do your own shopping, try to keep at least 6 feet away from others in the store. That might not be possible all the time, so wear a face mask, too. If you use a delivery service, have them leave groceries, food, or packages outside your front door if you can.

Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds before and after bringing things into your home. If you want, you can wipe down plastic, metal, or glass packaging with soap and water. Then clean and disinfect countertops and anything else you or your bags have touched.
The term “flattening the curve” was used often early in the pandemic as a way to demonstrate the availability of medical treatment in a location vs. the number of infections.
You may have seen a graph labeled “Flattening the curve” showing a tall, narrow curve and a short, wide curve with a line through it. It helped indicate how many sick people hospitals in a certain area could treat at one time. The tall curve went above the line. That meant too many people were sick at once and that region likely wouldn’t have enough hospital beds for all the people who needed treatment. The flatter curve showed what happened when the spread of the virus slowed down. The same number of people may get sick, but the infections happened over a longer time, so hospitals could treat more people.
There are COVID-19 vaccines available, and you are encouraged to be vaccinated. You should still try to limit your contact with other people. CDC guidelines suggest:
It may seem extreme to limit large gatherings, ask people to work from home, and occasionally close schools, restaurants, and theaters. But health experts say these are the best ways to slow the spread of the virus. As some places ease these rules, keep in mind that the virus hasn’t gone away. Be careful about your contact with others.
To stop the spread of coronavirus, people who are sick need to self-quarantine, or stay away from those who are well. Because you may not show symptoms right away, you should also self-quarantine if you know that you've come into contact with someone who has COVID-19.
If you've tested positive for COVID-19, isolate yourself . Stay at home in a room that's separate from everyone else, if possible. Avoid contact with other people and pets. Wear a face mask when you have to be near other people.
If your symptoms get worse, call your doctor or hospital before you go in. Follow their instructions to get medical help.
Isolate yourself until there's no chance that you could spread the virus . Your doctor can tell you when it's safe to stop.
UpToDate: “Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): Epidemiology, virology, and prevention,” “Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children.”
World Health Organization: “Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report -- 73,” “Report of the WHO-China Joint Mission on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).”

Pathogens : “SARS-CoV-2 and Coronavirus Disease 2019: What We Know So Far.”
Hartford HealthCare: “How to Avoid COVID-19 at the Supermarket.”
CDC: "Cases in U.S.," "How it Spreads," "Preventing the Spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Homes and Residential Communities," “Recommendation Regarding the Use of Cloth Face Coverings, Especially in Areas of Significant Community-Based Transmission,” “Coronavirus and Travel in the United States,” “If You Have Animals,” “COVID-19 Travel Recommendations by Destination,” “Omicron Variant: What You Need to Know,” “What You Should Know about COVID-19 and Pets,” “Your Guide to Masks,” “How to Protect Yourself & Others,” “CDC Updates and Shortens Recommended Isolation and Quarantine Period for General Population.”
World Organisation for Animal Health: “Questions and Answers on the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19).”
Columbia Mailman School of Public Health: "Public Health Rallies to 'Flatten the Curve.'"
Harvard Medical School: "Coronavirus Resource Center."
Johns Hopkins Medicine: "Coronavirus, Social Distancing and Self Quarantine."
Kaiser Health News: "Flattening the Curve and Social Distancing: Understanding the Drastic Measures That Experts Keep Talking About."
Michigan Health: "Flattening the Curve for COVID-19: What Does It Mean and How Can You Help?"
News release, National Institutes of Health.
Wisconsin Public Radio: “Social Distancing In Wisconsin: Your Questions, Answered.”

The New England Journal of Medicine : “Aerosol and Surface Stability of SARS-CoV-2 as Compared with SARS-CoV-1.”
China CDC Weekly: “Notes from the Field: Isolation of 2019-nCoV from a Stool Specimen of a Laboratory-Confirmed Case of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).”

MedRxiv : “The Novel Coronavirus, 2019-nCoV, is Highly Contagious and More Infectious Than Initially Estimated.”
UC Davis Health: “Omicron variant: What we know so far about this COVID-19 strain.”
Johns Hopkins: “COVID Omicron Variant: What You Need to Know.”
University of Rochester Medical Center: “Omicron is Spreading: Here’s What Our Scientists Know.”
Mayo Clinic: “Mayo Clinic expert discusses the latest on omicron variant.”
© 2005 - 2019 WebMD LLC. All rights reserved.
WebMD does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Select language

Select language
English
العربية
中文
Français
Русский
Español

Home /
Newsroom /
Questions and answers /

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): How is it transmitted?

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): How is it transmitted?
23 December 2021 | Q&A

The English version was updated on 23 December 2021.
We know that the disease is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which spreads between people in several different ways.
Current evidence suggests that the virus spreads mainly between people who are in close contact with each other, for example at a conversational distance. The virus can spread from an infected person’s mouth or nose in small liquid particles when they cough, sneeze, speak, sing or breathe. Another person can then contract the virus when infectious particles that pass through the air are inhaled at short range (this is often called short-range aerosol or short-range airborne transmission) or if infectious particles come into direct contact with the eyes, nose, or mouth (droplet transmission).
The virus can also spread in poorly ventilated and/or crowded indoor settings, where people tend to spend longer periods of time. This is because aerosols can remain suspended in the air or travel farther than conversational distance (this is often called long-range aerosol or long-range airborne transmission).
Further research is ongoing to better understand the spread of the virus and which settings are most risky and why. Research is also under way to study virus variants that are emerging and why some are more transmissible. For updated information on SARS-CoV-2 variants, please read the weekly epidemiologic updates .
Whether or not they have symptoms, infected people can be contagious and the virus can spread from them to other people.
Laboratory data suggests that infected people appear to be most infectious just before they develop symptoms (namely 2 days before they develop symptoms) and early in their illness. People who develop severe disease can be infectious for longer.
While someone who never develops symptoms can pass the virus to others, it is still not clear how frequently this occurs and more research is needed in this area.
Both terms refer to people who do not have symptoms. The difference is that ‘asymptomatic’ refers to people who are infected but never develop any symptoms, while ‘pre-symptomatic’ refers to infected people who have not yet developed symptoms but go on to develop symptoms later.
Yes, any situation in which people are in close proximity to one another for long periods of time increases the risk of transmission. Indoor locations, especially settings where there is poor ventilation, are riskier than outdoor locations. Activities where more particles are expelled from the mouth, such as singing or breathing heavily during exercise, also increase the risk of transmission.
The “Three C’s” are a useful way to think about this. They describe settings where transmission of the COVID-19 virus spreads more easily:
The risk of COVID-19 spreading is especially high in places where these “3Cs” overlap.
In health facilities where people are receiving treatment for COVID-19, there is an increased risk of infection during medical procedures called aerosol generating procedures. These can produce very small droplets that can stay suspended in the air for longer periods of time and spread beyond conversational distances (typically 1 meter). This is why health workers performing these procedures or in settings where these procedures are performed should take specific airborne protection measures, including using appropriate personal protective equipment such as respirators. This is also why visitors are not permitted in areas where these procedures are being performed.
There are many things you can do to keep yourself and your loved ones safe from COVID-19. Know your risks to lower risks. Follow these basic precautions:
Read our public advice page for more information.

Get The Daily Edition

Account

Sign In

© 2021 The Times of Israel , All Rights Reserved

Terms and conditions
Privacy policy

By laura ungar and ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL

11 July 2022, 11:59 am

Full Private
Lesbi Missionary
Lingerie Moda

New Coronavirus Spreads

Report Page