Who is the coronavirus ‘super-spreader’ and how many people have been infected?
A BRITISH businessman contracted coronavirus in Singapore and is thought to have since unwittingly spread the virus to at least 11 others over the past two weeks.
Businessman Steve Walsh, 53, has been called a "super-spreader" but scientists are still baffled over why some people are more likely to circulate the virus.
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What is a super-spreader?
Many outbreaks in the past have a 20:80 rule, this means that around 20 per cent of individuals with the virus will contribute to 80 per cent of it's spread.
Specialists say that identifying these individuals is vital in keeping the spread of virus under control.
Medical professionals are still unsure what makes someone a super-spreader but one theory is that some people may pass a higher dosage of the virus into the environment by sneezing or coughing.
Super-spreaders may be carrying a larger than normal quantity of the virus but have few or no symptoms themselves and be perfectly oblivious to it.
Environmental elements are also likely to be a factor, with people who travel for work playing a role in the risk of cross-contamination.
Dr Andrew Freedman, an expert in infectious diseases at Cardiff University, said: “It does appear the index case has passed on the infection to an unusually large number of contacts."
This seems to be the case for the British businessman, who had travelled from Singapore to the French Alps and then back to the UK.
"Typhoid Mary" was a famous super-spreader and an Irish cook who infected 51 people in the US at the start of the century.
Has the UK 'super-spreader' been identified?
Yes. He's Steve Walsh, a 53-year-old dad from Hove, East Sussex.
Mr Walsh is the leader of the 3rd Hove cub pack and appears to have accidentally infected two medics at his GP's in Brighton and at least four of the people he went skiing with last month.
He is a perfectly normal bloke who is currently in quarantine at St Thomas' in London after he caught the bug at a business conference in Singapore last month.
Steve raised the alarm when he realised he had been exposed to a confirmed case in January.
He said he followed the NHS guidelines before heading to an isolated room at the hospital despite not showing any symptoms.
Steve said: "When the diagnosis was confirmed I was sent to an isolation unit in hospital, where I remain, and, as a precaution, my family was also asked to isolate themselves.
"I also thank friends, family and colleagues for their support during recent weeks."
Steve has since recovered but remains in hospital.
How did Steve spread coronavirus?
- January 20-23 : The UK businessman attended a conference for a gas analytics company, Servomex, at a five-star hotel in Singapore.
- January 24: Flies to Contamines-Montjoie ski resort in the Haute-Savoie area of the French Alps.
- January 28: He flew with easyJet from Geneva to London Gatwick at 6.50pm. He is known to have visited the Hove pub, The Grenadier, since his return.
- February 6: Steve was diagnosed with the virus at a Brighton hospital and was later transferred to Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital in London. He became the UK's third case after two people were diagnosed in York.
- February 8: Five Brits who shared a ski chalet with the businessman all test positive for coronavirus, including a nine year old boy. There were 11 people in the chalet.
- February 9: Another British man, who was also in the ski resort, tested positive in Majorca.
- February 9-10: Five more people have been diagnosed with the virus by UK officials. This brings the current number of those infected with the disease to eight.
How many people could have been infected?
Coronavirus cases in the UK doubled to eight on February 10 after four more patients, known to be contacts of super-spreader Steve, tested positive for the killer bug.
There is no certainty over how many people Steve could have infected, but the virus is insanely contagious.
The details of Steve's movements are still subject to patient confidentiality in spite of posing a public risk.
There is a high chance that everyone on the easyJet flight could have been breathing it in along with anyone who touched Steve or breathed the same air as him.
We know that the pupils at Bevendean Primary School in East Sussex are having the day off after a teacher put themself in self-isolation for fears of contracting the bug.
A GP with the bug, who is thought to have been in contact with Steve, before being quarantined.
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There have also been two Brighton health centres shut and disinfected. Authorities are hunting down anyone who could have attended them since late January.
On the bright side, most people who get the virus don't die from it and many will think it's just a normal bit of common flu.
More than 1,000 people have died as the deadly virus tears through China, however 10 per cent of the confirmed 43,000 cases have recovered.