This is shown by research among participants in the PIENTER Corona study during the first corona wave
People who follow the advice to keep a distance of 1.5 meters are less likely to get the coronavirus SARS severe acute respiratory syndrome -CoV coronavirus -2. People who stick to this distance in their contacts are less likely to have antibodies against the virus in their blood. This is evident from research among participants in the PIENTER Corona studie during the first corona wave up to and including June 2020. The results of the study were recently published in the American scientific journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Antibodies were found in the blood of 5.5% of the participants who did not adhere to the distance rule. Of the people who keep their distance from their contacts, only 4% of the antibodies were found in the blood.
More than 7,000 participants from all over the Netherlands are participating in the PIENTER Corona study. They take blood at home themselves. The participants also completed six questionnaires about possible risk factors for becoming infected with the corona virus. They indicate, among other things, how many contacts they had in the days before they completed the questionnaire. And they let you know how often they could keep a distance of 1.5 meters. This gives an idea of how well people usually keep their distance. The results showed that participants who kept their distance better during the first wave were less likely to be infected with the coronavirus.
Age of contacts
An important detail in the study was the age of the contacts. Participants who mainly had contact with children under the age of 10 were hardly infected during those encounters. The blood of these participants did not contain antibodies more often than those of participants who indicated that they had had no contact at all. Participants who indicated that they had a profession in which they had physical contact with children were also not infected more often.
Meetings
The questionnaire also inquired about meetings. In 6.2% of the participants who had attended a meeting (with more than 20 people) in an indoor room in the first wave, the researchers found antibodies in the blood. This was almost 1.5 times more often than the people who had not attended meetings (4.2%). Group size thus turned out to be an important predictor of infection with the virus.
Less contacts and more distance = less distribution
The research shows that social distancing is an important measure to stop the virus from spreading. This research took place during the first wave, before the emergence of new virus variants. Precisely because of the higher contagiousness of these variants, it is important to keep sufficient distance.
The article also indicates that keeping a distance within households is important in the event of an outbreak. The researchers also agree that this is not always feasible. Nevertheless, they do emphasize how relevant it can be to reduce the (continued) spread of the virus, in addition to keeping a distance of 1.5 meters outside.
You can do other conclusions that emerged from the analyzes read in the article.
New results expected
The study was repeated in February / March of this year during the 4th round of the PICO Study. Results of this are expected shortly
If everyone adheres to the basic measures, fewer people will be infected. Keep a distance of 1.5 meters from others, stay at home if you have complaints, get tested and wash your hands regularly. This is how we can stop the spread of the corona virus.
Read on Rijksoverheid.nl everything about the measures
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