UK scientists claim ‘Super-spreading’ events are responsible for at least 80 per cent of Covid-19 cases 

A TOP UK scientist has warned that large social gatherings are as dangerous as simply going to the gym and that the virus will not be kept in check should these events be allowed to carry on.

Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Alan Turing Institute say these outbreaks can be traced back to a single highly infectious person. They say that if these events can be tightly restricted then it can raise the prospect of the virus being controlled.

Super-spreading is known to occur in care homes and hospitals but scientists say other large scale events can lead to big numbers of cases. The research team applied a mathematical model to reported outbreaks of the disease outside China.

“Anyone with close personal interaction with multiple other people are more likely to spread the virus than those with limited interaction. I could thus imagine anyone in face-to-face shop front environments, gymnasiums or personal care and health services could be a higher risk,” said a spokesman for the scientific group.