WHO Corrects Its ‘Misleading’ Claim That Asymptomatic COVID-19 Is ‘Very Rare’
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Dr Maria Van Kerkhov, an official from the World Health Organization (WHO), had claimed a question-and-answer session on Monday that coronavirus asymptomatic transmission was “very rare,” The Guardian reported. However, she walked back on her claim after critics pointed out that evidence isn’t substantial enough to deduce that the asymptomatic transmission rate is minimal.
On Tuesday, the WHO epidemiologist and technical lead on the pandemic cleared things up during a news conference, explaining, “Some estimates of around 40-percent of transmission may be due to asymptomatic [cases], but those are from models. So I didn’t include that in my answer yesterday but wanted to make sure that I made that clear,” Van Kerkhov clarified.
Van Kerkhove stated that it was just “a misunderstanding” and that she was not noting a policy from the WHO. “We do know that some people who are asymptomatic, or some people who do not have symptoms can transmit the virus on,” she explained.
Mike Ryan, head of emergency programs for the WHO, reinstated that there is not much known about the virus. Ryan also concluded that people appear to be most contagious when they are at their worst with symptoms clearly evident in their system, per the New York Post.
The Washington Post reported that only those who never show symptoms can be considered as actual asymptomatic cases, while patients who show symptoms later would be deemed as “presymptomatic” cases. Therefore, those who show symptoms at a later time can also be contagious.
To be fully assured, people should get tested for COVID-19 if they experience any of its symptoms, including difficulty breathing, fever, dry cough, and tiredness. Here are some ways to tackle the virus spread.
[via The New York Post, cover image via Shutterstock]
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