An average coronavirus patient infects at least 2 others. To end the pandemic, that crucial metric needs to drop below 1 — here's how we get there.

AP Photo/Martin Meissner

• A crucial metric called R0, pronounced R-naught, represents how many people an average person with a virus infects.
• The coronavirus has an R0 of roughly 2 to 2.5, meaning that each new person spreads the disease to about 2.2 people on average.
• That makes COVID-19 more contagious than the seasonal flu.
• But a disease's R0 isn't fixed — it can decrease with the right preventive measures. Bringing it below 1 would end the pandemic.
• Read Business Insider's live coronavirus updates here, or visit the homepage for more stories.

A crucial step in reigning in the coronavirus pandemic is determining exactly how contagious it is. That comes down to one crucial metric: the R0 (pronounced R-naught).

R0 refers to the average number of people that one sick person goes on to infect in a group that has no immunity. Experts use it to predict how far and how fast a disease will spread, and the number can also inform policy decisions about how to contain an outbreak.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

NOW WATCH: Some experts believe climate change may increase the emergence of new animal-to-human transmitted diseases like COVID-19

See Also:

• Everything we know about the coronavirus, from who's most at risk to where new cases are spreading
• 2 medical experts estimate 90% of coronavirus deaths in the US could have been avoided if everyone started social distancing on March 2
• Here’s how coronavirus nose and throat swab tests really work, and why they don’t always give satisfying results

from Feedburner https://ift.tt/3d1i4Ew