A new study, published in the journal 'Nature', reveals the locations that are most likely to spread COVID-19 in a community.

The study, published Monday. used a cell-phone app to follow participants for two months and tracked how they moved in 57,000 neighborhoods in 10 of the biggest cities, including New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia.

The study found 80% of cases of coronavirus came from just 10% of venues.

The places most likely to spread COVID-19? Restaurants, gyms, hotels, and houses of worship.

“These are places that are smaller, more crowded, and people dwell there longer,” said one of the study's co-authors and Stanford University Professor Jure Leskovec at a media briefing, CNN reported.

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The authors of the study say the answer is not to close these places entirely, but instead lower occupancy rates to 20%.

"Our model predicts that capping points-of-interest at 20% of maximum occupancy can reduce the infections by more than 80%, but we only lose around 40% of the visits when compared to a fully reopening with usual maximum occupancy," Leskovec says. "Our work highlights that it doesn't have to be all or nothing," he said.

The study also indicated that lower-income neighborhoods might be at greater risk, because grocery stores and other venues tend to be smaller.

One of the limitations of the study is that it did not track people to places with large populations like prisons, nursing homes, and schools.


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