New Delhi, Oct 1 (PTI) The transmission of COVID-19 in India has been driven mainly by superspreaders or a small percentage of infected people, according to the largest contact tracing study in the country which also shows that children are key to the spread of the novel coronavirus. The researchers, including those from the Government of Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh, found that over 70 per cent of COVID-19 infected patients in the country did not infect any of their contacts, while 8 per cent of infected individuals accounted for 60 per cent of observed new infections.
The study of over half-million people in India found that both cases and deaths due to the disease have been more heavily concentrated in the 40-69 year age group than is seen in high-income countries, among other trends. The researchers also found a high prevalence of infection among children who were contacts of…
