A leading virologist who is conducting a huge study
into Germany's worst-hit area says evidence suggests Covid-19 is not
transmitted by touching surfaces as previously thought
A leading German
scientist is casting doubt on our current understanding of coronavirus, suggesting it may not be
spread as easily as we think.
Professor
Hendrik Streeck, head virologist at the University of Bonn, has conducted
research in the small village of Heinsberg, the site of the country's worst
Covid-19 outbreak.
Germany
has a total of 79,696 cases and 1,017 deaths, while the Heinsberg area has
approximately 1,302 cases and 37 deaths – huge for a population of 250,000.
But when
Prof Streeck examined the home of one infected family, he found the house did
not have "any live virus on any surface", contradicting the belief
that coronavirus can live on various surfaces for days.
The
virus was not found on door knobs or animal fur either.
Professor Hendrik Streeck has come forward with startling evidence
about coronavirus
There
have been "no proven infections while shopping or at the hairdressers",
he said in an interview with a German TV station.
"The
virus spreads in other places: the party in Ischgl, the club in Berlin, the
football game in Bergamo," he said.
"We
know it's not a smear infection that is transmitted by touching objects, but
that close dancing and exuberant celebrations have led to infections."
He said
Germany's patient zero had infected only her colleagues with coronavirus, and
not other guests or diners at the hotel she had been staying at.
If true,
this would throw into question all existing theories about how Covid-19 is
spread from person to person.
Most
affected countries including the UK have closed shops, bars and restaurants and
banned public gatherings in the belief the virus is easily spread in these
environments.
German researchers are investigating the country's hardest-hit
district (Image: Getty Images)
Prof
Streeck is leading a revolutionary study into coronavirus based in Heinsberg,
which has been coined "Germany's Wuhan" after the original epicentre
of the virus.
The
spread of coronavirus in Heinsberg is estimated to be about two and a half
weeks ahead of the rest of the country.
A team
of 40 researchers will use the district as a real-life laboratory to study the
virus, following 1,000 residents over the coming weeks in the hopes of
formulating a plan for how Germany will deal with Covid-19.
The
country has been praised for its high testing rate and relatively low death
rate during the pandemic, but a confidential study recently leaked to the
German media showed that the government would need to ramp up its testing
capacity to avoid a mass outbreak.
The German government has been told it must ramp up testing to
200,000 per day (Image: REUTERS)
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Germany
currently has the ability to test up to 500,000 people a week but needs to
increase that to more than a million - the equivalent of 200,000 tests a day.
In
contrast, the UK government said it would ultimately aim to conduct 250,000
tests a day, but that goal has since been dropped to 100,000 a day by the end
of April.
Around
10,000 tests are currently being carried out each day.
