A lot of countries all over the world are experiencing lockdown due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Redfield reveals that 25% of those infected by the coronavirus are asymptomatic, that is they show no symptoms. Speaking to NPR(National Public Radio), Redfield said “One of the [pieces of] information that we have pretty much confirmed now is that a significant number of individuals that are infected actually remain asymptomatic.”
The initial confirmation that the virus could be transmitted by asymptomatic people cam in February as a 20-year old lady from Wuhan, China passed the virus to five of her family members but she never got sick. A report from WHO(World Health Organization) stated that very few instances were found in which a person who tested positive never showed any symptoms. Rather, more of the people who were asymptomatic on the date of their diagnosis later developed symptoms.
The report reads “The proportion of truly asymptomatic infections is unclear but appears to be relatively rare.” Other reports show that the virus is more contagious when the symptoms have just started showing or not long before the symptoms show. Children are apparently the least to be sickened by the virus.
Wearing a facemask also helps to protect other people from the wearer’s germs if the wearer is infected.