Coronavirus: Asymptomatic super-spreader’s elevator ride causes 71-person cluster – Stuff.co.nz

An asymptomatic womans 60-second elevator trip caused a coronavirus cluster of 71 people.
The womans short ride in an apartment elevator became the catalyst of a new cluster in China, which went on to infect dozens of others, including medical staff and patients in a hospital.
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published a study on the cluster. The study shows just how easily Covid-19 can spread, and also highlights the importance of contact tracing.
According to the report, the asymptomatic woman returned to China’s Heilongjiang Province from the US in March. The woman tested negative for the virus, but like many international travellers, she was asked to self-quarantine at her home where she lived alone. She was also alone in the elevator when she travelled up to her apartment, and didnt come into close contact with anyone during her quarantine.
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Covid-19 testing being carried out in Melbourne.
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However, the womans downstairs neighbour frequently used the same elevator. In March, the neighbour’s mother and her mothers boyfriend visited and stayed the night in the downstairs apartment. The couple then attended a party and interacted with another man at the party and his two sons.
In early April, the man suffered a stroke and was admitted to hospital, and his two sons were often by his side. During the mans time in hospital, his medical team treated him and other patients on the ward. Items, such as a microwave, were also shared with other patients. The man later developed a fever and was transferred to a different hospital.
China’s Heilongjiang Province.
Throughout this time, Covid-19 was spreading. But experts only started catching on when the neighbours mothers boyfriend developed symptoms and tested positive for the virus.
It didnt take long for a cluster to form. The neighbour, the neighbour’s mother, and the man who had a stroke, all tested positive for Covid-19.
During the mans time in hospital, 28 others were infected. This included other patients and medical staff. Another 20 people were infected in the second hospital the man had been transferred to.
A woman wearing a face mask to protect against coronavirus rides a bicycle past a large video screen showing Chinese President Xi Jinping speaking in Beijing.
It wasnt until April 9, exactly three weeks after the woman had first returned to China from the US, that investigators pieced together her overseas link, and that she also lived in the same building as the neighbour.
Although the womans test for Covid-19 was negative, an antibody test returned positive results an indicator that she had previously been infected.
The CDC report states the woman was likely an asymptomatic carrier, and that her neighbour became infected by touching surfaces in the elevator in the building they both lived in.
A total of 71 SARS-CoV-2positive cases were identified in the cluster.
The report also states that other people in the same building tested negative, including negative results for antibody tests.
Our results illustrate how a single asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection could result in widespread community transmission.
This report also highlights the resources required for case investigation and challenges associated with containment of SARS-CoV-2. Continued measures to protect, screen, and isolate infected persons are essential to mitigating and containing the Covid-19 pandemic.

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