More than 100 coronavirus infections in South Korea have been linked to fitness instructor workshops starting in mid-February, the researchers found.
Not recent infections – they were all identified on March 9 – but new research offers insight into how quickly coronaviruses can spread in confined spaces.
What happened: Nearly 30 instructors participated in the original workshop, which was held in Cheonan, South Korea. They practiced intensive training for four hours, and while there were no symptoms at the time, eight instructors were finally tested positive for the virus.
More cases found: Less than a month later, researchers have identified 112 cases of corona virus associated with dance classes in a dozen different facilities. Half of the cases are the result of direct transmission from the instructor to students, and some people continue to infect others outside the classroom.
Why does the virus spread this way? Several factors may have facilitated the spread of the virus, according to Sukbin Jang and colleagues at the Dankook University School of Medicine in Cheonan. They published their findings in Emerging Infectious Diseases, a journal of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Humid and warm atmosphere in sports facilities coupled with turbulent air flow produced by intense physical exercise can cause transmission of denser isolated droplets,” they wrote.
Transmission-connected classes have five to 22 students and last in a small room for almost an hour. Of the 217 students exposed to infected instructors, 57 of them – about one in four – ended up with positive test results.
