Where Are You Most Likely To Contract COVID-19? New Study Reveals High-Risk Spots

A new study done by researchers from Stanford University and Northwestern University found there are several places where Americans have a higher risk of contracting the coronavirus.

With the growing number of positive COVID-19 cases in the United States, the reopening of restaurants poses the greatest risk of spreading the virus, according to the study published in the journal Nature.

Researchers tracked anonymized phone data of almost 100 million Americans located in 10 of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas.

The data followed the subjects from their homes to various destinations including places of worship and restaurants from March 1 to May 2. That data was then placed over a model of how the virus spreads to determine a pattern of infection.

Researchers discovered there is a higher risk of becoming infected with the coronavirus at gyms, hotels, coffee shops, and places of worship.

“If you think about restaurants, people stay there a long time, and many of them are small places where people are packed in,” Jure Leskovec, the lead author of the study, said.

“The density of people there is quite high compared to grocery stores and department stores that are bigger places and are nowhere near as packed as restaurants.”

New York City Governor Andrew Cuomo’s order for a 10 p.m. curfew on gyms, restaurants, and bars appeared to reflect the results of the study. The order was issued following a rising number of positive COVID-19 cases traced back to those venues.

“If you look at where the cases are coming from, if you do the contact tracing, you’ll see they’re coming from three main areas: establishments where alcohol is served, gyms, and indoor gatherings at private homes,” Cuomo said.

The governor added, “The rules are only as good as the enforcement. Local governments are in charge of enforcement. There are only two fundamental truths in this situation: it’s individual discipline and it’s government enforcement. Period. End of sentence. I need the local governments to enforce this.”