As the world continues to grapple with the deadly coronavirus or COVID-19, the US has been affected the most due to the virus outbreak. Now, a new study conducted by ProPublica states that Las Vegas might be a superspreader hotspot. Travelers who are returning from Vegas are potentially spreading the virus to virtually every state in the country, according to the study.
The study looked at a total of 12 days of the cellphone data in three batches. The 12 days include four days in May, four days in June, just after Las Vegas reopened and four days in mid-July. In May, travel was mostly regional but in June the movement of the smartphones leaving Las Vegas has become more widespread.
COVID-19 'Superspreader Hotspot'
During the final four-day period, the study got 26,000 smartphones on the Las Vegas strip, a maximum of them appeared in 47 states within the same four-day time. "About 3,700 of the devices were spotted in Southern California in the same four days; about 2,700 in Arizona, with 740 in Phoenix; around 1,000 in Texas; more than 800 in Milwaukee, Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland; and more than 100 in the New York area," ProPublica reported.
Even though the study did not determine the number of travelers who got infected with coronavirus when they returned to home states but it is easy to assume that there were many. For quite sometime Las Vegas has been a hotspot for the virus.
Travel has been a major factor for the spread of the deadly novel virus around the world. In the US, the virus has infected more than 5.5 million people and claimed the lives of over 174,000 people. Nevada, where Las Vegas is located, has confirmed more than 63 cases of the novel virus and the death toll stands over 1,100.
Scientists around the world are working to find a cure for the disease as an efficient vaccine is expected by the first quarter of 2021. However, Russia has already registered a vaccine, which it claims to be safe amid the doubts of experts around the world.
