Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a viral disease that was
first discovered in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Hundreds of millions of people had
contracted this disease and over 3 million have died (Coronavirus Cases, 2021). There are
various methods of transmission by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The highest modes of transmission
of the SARS-CoV2 virus are: recent travel, close contact with infected household members, and
age over 40 (Danis et al., 2020). Studies have shown that airline travel is one of the main causes
of transmission. Those most at risk for this disease were either traveling internationally, or had
been in close contact with someone who had (Gudbjartsson et al. 2020). We must understand the
details of the transmission of this disease and its variability, to suggest disease control measures
and contain this disease. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2;

There is a significant amount of variability when estimating the transmission of this disease
especially when factoring adult vs. child, and viral load. The study from Danis et al., 2020,
reviewed transmission variability in how one child was infected with SARS-CoV-2 and attended
3 schools while infected, but did not transmit the disease. This can lead to the proposal that
children may transmit this disease differently than adults. SARS-CoV-2 was found to have a
shorter incubation period of between 4 -6 days in children (Bi et al., 2020). There was also the
case of a patient who was asymptomatic, transmitted the disease to others and the symptomatic
patients had the same viral load as the asymptomatic patient. Symptomatic patients stopped viral
excretion 17 days after the onset of symptoms (Danis et al., 2020). This supports one of the
CDC’s recommendations of quarantining for 10-14 days from onset of symptoms. At day 10-14
from onset of symptoms, the viral excretion/transmission is either undetectable or at low levels
(Cheng et al., 2020). Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2; Read more
The most important methods to reduce disease transmission are: contact tracing, quarantining,
the usage of facial masks, social distancing and hygiene (Yong et al., 2020). This is evidenced by
countries such as France and Singapore. Singapore was able to control their transmission rates
with strict quarantining, contact tracing and mass testing to identify those needing to quarantine
(Yong et al., 2020). Asymptomatic transmission is possible so testing prior to traveling,
especially international travel, should be limited and testing before all travel should be mandated
(Cheng et al., 2020).