Asymptomatic Covid-19 - facts

KalimNews and agencies: Some people who have COVID-19 are asymptomatic. This means

that they do not have any known symptoms of COVID-19 or associated symptoms, such as sneezing. A person who is asymptomatic might pass on the virus to others without even realizing it. Anyone who has tested positive but is asymptomatic should continue social distancing. They should wear a cloth face mask in public spaces where it is difficult to adhere to social distancing rules. Anyone who has had contact with someone who has tested positive, whether showing symptoms or not, should also follow these rules. They may also have COVID-19 without realizing it.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that people infected with the virus — SARS-Cov-2 — but not showing any symptoms, described as asymptomatic, may not pose a risk to others in transmitting the disease. 

This assertion is at variance with views of some researchers who opine that the spread of the pandemic will be difficult to control due to infections from asymptomatic people.

The WHO’s ‘good news’ comes even as it has expressed worry about the worsening situation of the pandemic, saying that a majority of the new cases — 75% — are now emanating from the Americas and South Asia (the region where India lies), especially as mass gatherings resume. 

Still, with regards to the spread of Covid-19, the WHO’s Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, head of emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, said that it’s “rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual”.

While this doesn’t mean that the precautions being taken — social distancing and wearing face masks, apart from hand hygiene — are let go, the WHO says that governments around the world should focus on people showing symptoms, apart from contact tracing of anyone who might have come into contact with symptomatic infected people. The WHO’s findings, however, appear to be at odds with the US CDC’s findings earlier, “that to control the pandemic, it might not be enough for only persons with symptoms to limit their contact with others because persons without symptoms might transmit infection”.