As the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 continues to spread globally scientists are gradually getting to know more about its spread. Now, a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the US confirmed that eating at a restaurant or drinking at a bar can increase the risk of contracting the novel virus more than other social activities.
The study that was published on Friday found that the participants who tested positive were around twice as likely to have reported dining at a restaurant in 14 days leading up to their diagnosis compared to the people with negative results.
"In addition to dining at a restaurant, case-patients were more likely to report going to a bar/coffee shop, but only when the analysis was restricted to participants without close contact with persons with known COVID-19 before illness onset," the scientists added.
COVID-19 Study
The findings came from a study conducted between June 1 and July 29, with 314 adults from 10 states. Around half of the people, 154, tested positive for the virus. The participants belonged from stated with different reopening guidelines including, California, Colorado, Massachusetts Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio, North Carolina, Utah, Tennessee, and Washington.
They were also questioned about possible community exposure in the two weeks before their tests. They also had to rate how well they followed the social distancing rules. The research found that around 42 percent of the people who tested positive mentioned that they had close contact with at least one person having coronavirus.
Around 14 percent of the people who tested negative also had close contact with people having COVID-19. Nearly 71 percent of people who tested positive and 74 percent who got negative results stated that they always wore a face covering while in public in the two weeks ahead of the test.
Coronavirus Crisis in US
The scientists also noted certain limitations of the study. The participants did not have to specify whether they ate indoors or outdoors while dining, pointing that more research is required to establish whether the findings are going to similar to a larger group, as reported by the Business Insider.
As per the latest reports, the US is the worst affected nation due to the virus outbreak as the country has already confirmed more than 6.3 million cases and almost 200,000 deaths. The global case tally has gone past 28.2 million as the dearth toll has crossed 910,000. An effective vaccine is expected by the first quarter of 2021.
