NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — We’ve known for months about the dangers of the coronavirus spreading in crowded public places but we are now learning new information about the danger of COVID-19 spreading inside your home.
The new study from Vanderbilt University Medical Center reveals how vulnerable family members can be inside a home where someone has contracted the coronavirus.
"What we found is COVID spreads very rapidly and very quickly inside a home," said Dr. Keipp Talbot of Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Just how fast? The study found half of all family members in a home with someone infected with COVID-19 will also get COVID-19, usually within just five days.
"Once it's in your house, it's very hard to keep from spreading, and you don't know who in your home will be susceptible, and they'll need to be hospitalized," Talbot said.
The research adds a new dimension to public health guidelines that largely focus on social distancing outside your home -- guidelines that doctors say work if everyone in the home follows those guidelines while outside.
"However, if you or anyone in the family goes outside the bubble, and does anything that's risky -- large groups, bars, not wearing your mask -- they can come back into that bubble and put everyone in that bubble at risk," Talbot said.
