German scientists recently shared the results of their study, during which they managed to establish a connection between the level of infection with coronavirus and the contact index.
For those who don't know, the contact index is the average number of physical contacts made by one sociable person in an urban setting. This indicator is easily calculated by tracking the geolocation of a person. Moreover, each contact was counted only if two people did not go beyond the conditional limits, the size of which was 8 by 8 meters.
During the course of the study, graphs were constructed showing fluctuations in this contact index and the spread rate of COVID-19. Comparison of the two indicators made it possible to find an almost direct relationship between us, since the indicators were very similar. That is, with an increase in the number of contacts, the coefficient of spread of the virus increases proportionally. This data will reveal the number of contacts that can lead to another outbreak of coronavirus in a particular area.
As a result, it was determined that the contact index of 50 or more is exactly the value at which it is possible to fix the critical value of the infection spread coefficient. This data will allow us to take a different look at the effectiveness of the quarantine measures taken and make more practical adjustments to them.
