Wait, what?
W.H.O.: Asymptomatic Coronavirus Spread Is ‘Very Rare’
Coronavirus patients without symptoms, or asymptomatic patients, are not the ones spreading the virus, the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) announced Monday.
The organization’s announcement comes at a time where some researchers shared concerns that the disease could be difficult to contain due to asymptomatic infectious people, CNBC reported.
Some people who are young and otherwise healthy who catch the coronavirus never develop symptoms or only develop mild symptoms. Other people might not develop symptoms until several days after they catch the infection.
Preliminary evidence showed that coronavirus could be spread from person-to-person contact, even if the carrier was asymptomatic, but now the W.H.O. is saying the coronavirus is not mainly spread through these asymptomatic people.
“From the data we have, it still seems to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual,â€Â Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of W.H.O.’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, said at a news briefing from the United Nations agency’s Geneva headquarters. “It’s very rare.â€
People being asymptomatic was a huge reason for social distancing and #StayAtHome, for the lockdowns that occurred, for destroying economies world wide. For limiting people’s ability to go anywhere, for arresting them for daring to be out on the ocean on a paddleboard with no one else nearby, for saying they couldn’t even garden in their own yards. Now we find this out?
Of course, with all that said, when this all started we just didn’t know, and governments were just slapping policies in place based on the best guesses of doctors and scientists, especially since people were scared and unsure. Things kept escalating, we all have to remember what February and March felt like.
But, wait, what’s this?
Nearly Half of Coronavirus Spread May Be Traced to People Without Any Symptoms
One of the more insidious features of the new coronavirus behind COVID-19 is its ability to settle into unsuspecting hosts who never show signs of being sick but are able to spread the virus to others.
In a study published June 3 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers at the Scripps Research Translational Institute reviewed data from 16 different groups of COVID-19 patients from around the world to get a better idea of how many cases of coronavirus can likely be traced to people who spread the virus without ever knowing they were infected. Their conclusion: at minimum, 30%, and more likely 40% to 45%.
This was published just a few days before the WHO announcement. So, which is it?