Comparison of COVID-19 transmission in nightlife, household, healthcare settings

Editor's Note

This Japanese study finds nightlife settings to be associated with more transmissions of COVID-19 than household or healthcare settings.

Of 44,054 confirmed COVID-19 cases, more than 6,600 transmission settings were identified.

Nightlife (18.9%) and healthcare (36.2%) settings were more likely to involve five or more cases, compared with other settings. Nightlife cases appeared early in the epidemic, while household and healthcare cases appeared later.

After adjusting for transmission setting, sex, age, presence of symptoms, and wave, household and healthcare cases were less likely to generate onward transmissions, compared with nightlife cases.

Among 30,932 cases without identified transmission settings, those with a history of visiting nightlife establishments were more likely to generate onward transmissions to nonhousehold settings than those without such a history.

Surveillance and interventions targeting nightlife settings should be prioritized to disrupt COVID-19 transmissions and prevent them from reaching high-risk populations, especially in the early stages of a resurgence, the researchers say.