On an otherwise ordinary January lunchtime in the canteen of a car parts company in the small town of Stockdorf in Southern Germany, a worker turned to a colleague and asked them to pass the saltshaker, in return they got the salt and the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. This, according to German scientists, was the earliest community transmission of COVID-19 in a country that has now registered over 3.7 million cases and almost 90,000 deaths. The January 22nd canteen scene was one of dozens of mundane incidents that the scientists have logged in a medical manhunt to trace, test, and isolate infected office workers. Those regularly visiting a workplace are nearly twice as likely to test positive for COVID-19 than those working at home, according to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In a July 2020 study, over 300 people were given COVID tests and asked for information about their lifestyles. The results […]