What are coronavirus risks from riding trains? A new Chinese study analyses passenger data
- Passengers in seats directly adjacent to an infected person suffered the highest level of risk of transmission, researchers find
- Using a seat previously occupied by someone who has tested positive apparently does not pose much risk
Is it safe to travel by train for hours during the Covid-19 pandemic? Will fellow passengers be infected if a traveller turns out to be a patient?
There are no simple, direct answers to these questions, but a study by Chinese researchers who analysed data from passengers sitting in seats close to a confirmed patient might offer a glimpse into the potential risks.
According to the study, which was published online on Thursday by the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases , passengers in seats directly adjacent to an infected person suffered the highest level of risk of transmission, with an average of 3.5 per cent of them contracting the disease.
Passengers in seats on the same row as the infected person averaged a 1.5 per cent chance of catching the virus, about 10 times higher than seats one and two rows apart.
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Surprisingly, researchers found that only 0.075 per cent of people who used a seat previously occupied by an infected passenger went on to contract Covid-19.