The World Health Organization (WHO) says the transmission of novel coronaviruses from asymptomatic patients is 'very rare'.
During a press briefing, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhov, Head of the WHO's Emerging Diseases and zoonosis Unit, said, 'From the data we have, it still seems to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual'.
She added that governments should focus on finding and isolating people affected by COVID-19 and those in contact with them.
'We have reports from a number of countries that are making great strides,' she said. 'They are following asymptomatic cases, they are following contacts, and after that, they are able to find secondary transmission it is very rare.'
'Some studies have indicated an unsustainable or relatively widespread spread in nursing homes and home settings,' she said, adding that more data and research is needed to find the answer: Can carry coronavirus virus spread through asymptomatic people?
Dr. Isaac Bogoch and Dr. Alan Dutsky of the University of Toronto point out that the problem may be due to the misuse of the term 'asymmetric' when referring to 'presymptomatic' patients
Asymptomatic patients never show signs of contracting coronavirus, while presymptomatic people show no signs of contracting a fatal disease in the first few days before experiencing the deadly symptoms.
'The potential for presymptomatic transmission underscores the importance of social distancing, including the avoidance of congregate settings, to reduce Covid-19 spread,' Kirkhov said.
Kirkhov added that seemingly irrational carriers have not only recognized the symptoms of the virus. 'When we really step back and say, 'How many of them were really unique?' So we found out that a lot of people really have a mild illness, a very mild illness. '
'It is difficult to conduct comprehensive studies on transmission from unrelated individuals, but the evidence available from the communication reported by member countries shows that infected people who show symptoms are more likely to be spread the virus than non-symptomatic individuals who get infected.' she added.
In April, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highlighted the importance of social distance and took precautionary measures, such as wearing masks in public, suggesting that Asymptomatic and presymptomatic can spread the virus.
Finding the properties and methods of the spread of COVID-19 has been a huge challenge for health organizations across the world. More than 7 million people have been reported infected with the coronavirus globally and over 400,000 have died.
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