Shortening of average serial interval over time indicates isolation effectively limits COVID-19 transmission

(American Association for the Advancement of Science) A new analysis of SARS-CoV-2 transmission data in China shows that faster identification and isolation of infected, symptomatic individuals contributed to the shortening of the average serial interval - or the period between the onset of symptoms in successive cases - over time, as fewer opportunities occurred for viral transmission from one infector to more individuals.