World Health Org. Says Asymptomatic Spread of COVID-19 Is ‘Very Rare’

According to the World Health Organization, people who aren’t showing signs of the coronavirus are unlikely the spreaders of the disease.

Public health officials warned at the onset of the coronavirus outbreak that asymptomatic individuals could be fueling the spread of COVID-19, but Dr. Van Kerkhove and the WHO’s recent findings show that while transmission can occur, it is not the primary source of the spread. “We have a number of reports from countries who are doing very detailed contact tracing,” said Dr. Van Kerkhove. “They’re following asymptomatic cases. They’re following contacts. And they’re not finding secondary transmission onward. It’s very rare,” adding, “What we really want to be focused on is following the symptomatic cases.”