The WHO Throws a Wrench in What We All Thought About the Coronavirus

For months we have heard about how asymptomatic people, particularly the young, are unknowingly spreading the Wuhan coronavirus to vulnerable people, including the elderly and those with preexisting conditions. The World Health Organization on Monday said asymptomatic people spreading the disease is actually “very rare.”

“From the data we have, it still seems to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual,” Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, said during a press conference. “It’s very rare.”

Originally, the WHO and the White House Coronavirus Task Force said that otherwise healthy people could contract the Wuhan coronavirus and pass it on to others without knowing it because they lack any symptoms, CNBC reported. The asymptomatic spread was the very reason most of the nation went on lockdown and social distancing was heavily emphasized.

According to Van Kerkhove, government officials are better off spending their time finding those who are infected and conducting contact tracing.

“We have a number of reports from countries who are doing very detailed contact tracing,” she explained. “They’re following asymptomatic cases. They’re following contacts. And they’re not finding secondary transmission onward. It’s very rare.” (Read more from “The WHO Throws a Wrench in What We All Thought About the Coronavirus” HERE)

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