The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a new guide that reveals that asymptomatic people spread the coronavirus more than anyone else.
The CDC recently said that asymptomatic people are to blame for much of the spread of the new coronavirus. They cannot understand that they are carrying the virus, so they spread it unknowingly.
The CDC said that’s why masks are so important in curbing the spread.
- “Most SARS-CoV-2 infections are spread by asymptomatic people.”
- “The CDC and others estimate that more than 50% of all infections are transmitted by people who do not show symptoms,”
- “That means at least half of the new infections come from people who probably don’t know they’re contagious to others.”
The CDC publishes specific numbers that identify who is spreading the virus:
- 24% of people who transmit never develop symptoms.
- 35% of people who transmit were asymptomatic.
- 41% of people infected others generally experience symptoms.
Peak infectivity occurred five days, according to the CDC.
- “With these assumptions, 59% of infections will be transmitted when there are no symptoms, but can vary (from) 51% to 70% if the fraction of asymptomatic infections is 24% -30% and the peak infectivity varies from 4 to 6 days.”
How it spreads
- The CDC says in its guidelines that the coronavirus spreads when people are exposed to infected people who “breathe, talk, cough, sneeze or sing.”
The good news for asymptomatic patients
Researchers have suggested that asymptomatic patients may carry appropriate memory T cells – which have previously fought other coronaviruses – that could lead to an end to the pandemic. Scientists could use these T-talks to help create the right vaccine and therapeutics to keep people safe, as I wrote for Deseret News.