A server wearing a face mask takes orders from a table of customers in Houston, Texas, on May 22. | Mark Felix/AFP via Getty Images

“Any one of us could unknowingly be a superspreader.”

We now know that, on average, most people with the novel coronavirus pass the virus to just one other person, or to no one else at all.

But some go on to infect many, many more, often before they even experience symptoms. Many of these transmission chains begin with “superspreading” events, where one person (usually in a crowded indoor space) passes the virus to dozens of others. Early contact tracing studies suggest these events have been a large driver of transmission around the world. By some estimates, 10 percent of people have been causing 80 percent of new infections.

This is one of the reasons experts worry about