How the coronavirus is transmitted
Coronavirus COVID-19 is transmitted in the same way as other viruses that cause influenza and SARS – by direct, close contact with the carrier. But remote options are also possible, for example, if a person has been in a room where a person infected with a coronavirus has been staying for a long time.

Coronavirus transmission routes

Experts note two main ways:

Airborne

In this case, the infection is transmitted from person to person with mucus particles from the nasopharynx or saliva. For example, if someone near you sneezes and coughs. The virus remains active for a long time in a humid environment – in saliva, nasal secretions. When talking, crying, screaming, sneezing or coughing, particles of mucus and saliva can fly up to 1 m around the sick person1.

How to protect yourself

Avoid crowded places. Give up going to theaters, museums, cinema, concerts and sports competitions. Avoid traveling on public transport, shopping malls and shops during rush hour. If it is not possible to stay at home, try to stay more than 1 m away from people, especially those who are coughing and sneezing.

Contact

This variant of infection is realized when the infection is transmitted by direct contact with the mucous membranes of the sick person (with kisses) or skin (if the sick person sneezed in the palm of your hand and after that you shook his hand). Indirect (it is also indirect) contact is also possible – this is the ingress of the virus from the mucous membranes and hands, and from dirty hands – on the surface (table, door handles, equipment, etc.)2.

How to protect yourself

In crowded places where it is necessary to touch surfaces, use gloves or wash your hands frequently, do not touch your face, nose, mouth and eyes with dirty hands.

At home, in the presence of sick people, wet cleaning or surface treatment with antiseptics is necessary.

It is also worth giving up hugs and kisses with sick people.

“A person who is forced to use public transport and is in a large crowd of people must necessarily have a mask and gloves on his hands,” advises Candidate of Medical Sciences, virologist Anna Demina. – Because it will inevitably come into contact with surfaces that are infected with the coronavirus. After the trip, gloves must either be disinfected with alcohol-containing solutions, or thrown away. If it is possible to go on foot or drive your own car, this is preferable to public transport.

Rare routes of transmission of coronavirus

After numerous studies, it was determined that the virus mainly enters the body with particles of mucus and saliva, as well as from dirty hands. There are rarer variants of its transmission, the significance of which is not so great or the likelihood of such a transmission is being questioned.3.

The fecal-oral route. In this case, the virus is transmitted with food, with dirty hands and household items, gets from unwashed hands on dirty dishes, raw or uncooked foods, especially meat and fish. Wash dishes thoroughly after eating. Yes, and before eating it is not a sin to rinse it again. Get yourself individual dishes that no one else will use. Have separate cutting boards for raw and cooked foods.

Fry, bake and boil meat and fish well – heat treatment kills coronavirus.

Air and dust. In this embodiment, the virus enters the body with dust particles. The probability of such infection is low – the coronavirus lives for a long time in a humid environment, but as soon as it gets into a dry place, it dies in 2-4 hours4. However, this time may be long enough to become infected.

Popular questions and answers

We discussed with the expert the main issues related to the transmission of viruses from sick to healthy people, the ways of spreading the infection and the various conditions for transmission of the virus.

Can a vaccinated person become infected with the coronavirus?

Vaccines that are currently registered in our country and other countries of the world cannot provoke infections in vaccinated people, which means they cannot infect others. The vaccine does not contain live virus particles, so it is safe.

Can you get coronavirus after getting vaccinated?

It is possible, since the vaccine does not 100% protect against infection, and antibodies after the second injection are produced in full by 40-42 days from the start of vaccination. However, after vaccination, the infection, if it develops, will be easier, there are fewer risks of severe complications and death.

Can you get coronavirus from a vaccine?

No. In all vaccines that have been developed to date, there are no live viral particles, so it does not pose any danger in terms of infection.

Is it possible to get coronavirus from a sick person?

If a person has been ill with a coronavirus infection, then his body has already been cleansed of viruses and it is impossible to get infected from it. About the long-term carriage of the coronavirus, which is dangerous for others, documented facts have not yet been made public.

Is it possible to get coronavirus from pets – dogs and cats?

Ruled out. Cats and dogs have their own coronavirus infections, but they are not transmitted to humans. Just like COVID-19 is not transmitted to animals.

Is the coronavirus transmitted through the air?

According to current scientific data, coronavirus can only be transmitted through small droplets. It is simply impossible to get infected “through the air” – without a moist environment, the virus dies.

Is it possible to get coronavirus from a person who does not have symptoms of the disease?

Can. In the early stages of the disease, symptoms may not be very pronounced, and in some people the disease is generally asymptomatic, in a mild stage. A person without symptoms is less dangerous, the risk of infection is small, but still it exists.

Sources:

  1. Scientists have proven the transmission of coronavirus by aerosol. https://stopcoronavirus.rf/news/20200721-1617.html
  2. Rumyantsev A.G. Coronavirus infection COVID-19. Scientific challenges and possible ways of treatment and prevention of the disease // RZHDGiO. 2020. №3. URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/koronavirusnaya-infektsiya-covid-19-nauchnye-vyzovy-i-vozmozhnye-puti-lecheniya-i-profilaktiki-zabolevaniya
  3. Nikiforov V.V., Suranova T.G., Mironov A. Yu., Zabozlaev F.G. Novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19): etiology, epidemiology, clinic, diagnosis, treatment and prevention, – Moscow, 2020. – 48 p. http://www.medprofedu.ru/upload-files/koronoviruc20.pdf
  4. Hikmatullaeva Aziza Sadullaevna, Rakhimov Ravshan Abdullaevich, Abdukadyrova Muazzam Alievna, Egamova Intizor Normuhammadovna, Yarmukhamedova Nargiza Anvarovna modern idea of ​​coronavirus infection // Bulletin of Science and Education. 2020. No. 22-2 (100). URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/sovremennoe-predstavlenie-o-koronavirusnoy-infektsii

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