After Riding Elevator All Alone, This Chinese Super-Spreader Infected 71 People

The rare case happened in the province Heilongjiang of China when a woman came back from the US. She was called an unwitting super-spreader because she didn’t know she was infected and accidentally spread the virus to many others though she applied self-quarantine during 14 days after arrival.

Before she returned home in China on March 19, the province hadn’t recorded any new case for 8 days. She also showed no symptoms as well as tested negative to Covid-19 when she came.

The woman also carefully followed health officials’ recommendations that she isolated herself in the house for 14 days. She didn’t have direct contact with anyone during the self-quarantine time.

Then suddenly, on April 2, someone who made contact with her downstairs neighbor and her mother suffered a stroke and rushed to the hospital. The boyfriend of her mother was also tested positive to Covid-19 several days after attending the party with her mother. This man was the first confirmed case in the cluster.

More people were found positive after that, including doctors and nurses. They were those in contact with the man, the mother, and the neighbor at different times. There were 71 people confirmed in the cluster in total.

It took a long time for the authority to figure out who was the infection source as the boyfriend of her mother never made contact with her. She didn’t have direct contact with her mother or the neighbor either. Most importantly, she didn’t show any symptoms of an infected at all.

Turned out after her arrival, she took an elevator ride to her apartment in the building. She accidentally left the virus inside the lift and caused the downstairs neighbor to contract it.

The neighbor then infected her mother when they met each other.

Once again, this case of unwitting super-spreader in China shows how quickly the spread of coronavirus is, through the air or any metal surface. She is also among asymptomatic cases that can spread the virus for so many people via indirect contact. And remember that she used to test negative to Covid-19.

Starbiz.com used to explain why some people have tested negative but back to positive after that. A commonly agreed theory is the reactivation of the virus. When the amount of virus in our body is small, it may not show symptoms or does harm to our well-being. However, throughout the time, this small amount of virus multiples to reach a certain amount, starting to attack the human body.

From the reports above, we hope everyone is cautious whenever touching any surface in public places. Please wear masks and wash hands regularly to avoid the risk of contracting coronavirus.

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