The latest studies in many countries and after a coronavirus outbreak in Massachusetts at a big scale, it raised questions reassuring claims by United States officials about the means through coronavirus spread. These officials stressed that the novel virus spread mostly by individuals already showing symptoms like cough, fever, or difficulty in breathing. If the condition fulfills a hundred percent, then, in this case, it is good for authorities to identify and isolate the patients, eventually make it comfortable to control the outbreak.
In contrary to the above scenario, eighty-two cases of coronavirus reported in Massachusetts, and they were not showing any symptoms of the epidemic. Whereas, over half a dozen researches reveal that individuals with no symptoms are causing the hidden and significant amounts of infections to other people. For many weeks, the officials at the federal level emphasized that person-to-person transmission of the virus may happen. But later, they said that it is not the major factor to spread the virus.
On 1st March, Alex Azar, the United States Secretary of Health & Human Services, told George Stephanopoulos that asymptomatic spread is not the significant factor to drive the spread of COVID-19. He said that one actually needs to focus on the people that are symptomatic mainly. The control approach mainly depends on the symptomatic presentation.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Website about the spread
The official website for U.S. CDC Department booms that assessment. According to the information on site, some spread of coronavirus might also make it possible before the symptoms appear in people. As reports across the world verify this is happening with COVID-19, but the researchers don’t believe it the only way of the spread. Dr. Deborah Birx, the administration’s coronavirus response coordinator, appeared to strike a different memo on the asymptomatic transmission during a news briefing at the White House.
She said her team making an effort to understand individuals under age twenty who do not have unusual symptoms. Birx shows her doubt to that age group that is possibly asymptomatic and becoming the cause to spread the virus. She adds that the whole U.S. citizens should know that the risk of severe infection may be low, but they may become the potential cause to spread the virus to other people. That is the reason why her researchers are asking every national to take individual responsibility to stop that spread.
The Role of Asymptomatic Transmission
Many of the health experts explain that they have not the exact percentage of the transmission in the coronavirus outbreak occurs by individuals who are apparently ill versus those who have zero symptoms or minor symptoms is responsible for more transmission of the virus that last assumption. The director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy at the University of Minnesota, Michael Osterholm, said that now they come to know that asymptomatic transmission possibly plays a crucial role in spreading coronavirus.
Furthermore, Osterholm says that it is definitely clear that asymptomatic infection absolutely can back an epidemic like coronavirus in a way that makes it very difficult to control it. Bill Gates wrote in an article two weeks ago that there is also a piece of solid evidence that the virus can easily transmit through people who are only mildly sick or even presymptomatic. Osterholm advised the officials at the public level to be clearer about the way how the virus spread.
