German Scientist Casts Doubt on How Coronavirus Spreads

Coronavirus has not been spread by shopping or going to the hairdresser, a leading virologist has said after studying a hotspot for the virus.

Prof Hendrik Streeck, leading the response in one of Germany’s worst-hit regions, said Covid-19 might not be spread as easily as people believe.

But it came as Boris Johnson warned that lockdown measures in the UK may have to be tightened amid signs they were beginning to meet resistance.

Official figures showed a “concerning” uptick in the number of people using transport, particularly their cars.

Experts warned the Government it needed to have the public’s trust to persuade people to follow the measures.

In his research, Prof Streeck said the home of an infected family his team visited “did not have any live virus on any surface” including on phones, door knobs or even the pet cat’s fur.

He told German TV “there are no proven infections while shopping or at the hairdresser” and that Germany’s “patient zero” only infected her colleagues and not other guests or diners at the hotel where she was staying.

“The virus spreads in other places: the party in Ischgl, the club in Berlin, the football game in Bergamo,” he said.

“We know it’s not a smear infection that is transmitted by touching objects, but that close dancing and exuberant celebrations have led to infections.”

He said he was not calling for the end to social distancing but there remained unknowns about the virus that may throw current guidance into doubt.

Prof John Newton, Director of Public Health Improvement for Public Health England, insisted lockdown was still required and should “continue really as long as the scientific evidence suggested that was the right thing.”

Continue this story at The Telegraph

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