People with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, are most infectious about two days before symptoms begin and for five days afterward, according to a new analysis of previous research.
In September, France dropped its required period of isolation to seven days from 14 days, and Germany is considering shortening it to five days. “Even if you were to get the PCR test right on the very first day that you could, by the time you get the results back, 90 percent of your shedding has been completed,” said Dr. Michael Mina, a virologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “This meta-analysis shows just how short your transmission window is.”
People with COVID-19 usually are most infectious a day or two before the onset of symptoms until about five days after, the analysis concluded. Yet patients may carry genetic fragments from the virus in their noses and throats for an average of 17 days, and, in some cases, for up to three months. Because the infectious period seems to peak relatively quickly in the course of the illness, health care workers at community clinics may be at higher risk of becoming infected than those working in ICU units, where patients tend to be in the later stages, Cevik added.
But the new analysis is limited by the fact that only a few of the included studies looked at live virus, she added. Watch more in iWantTFC Overall, the new analysis underscores how quickly the coronavirus blooms in the body and the speed with which both patients and doctors must respond to keep it contained, Baral said. Levels of the MERS virus peak at seven to 10 days from symptom onset, and those of the SARS virus peak at days 10 to 14.
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