A new model from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that those infected but showing no signs of COVID-19 account for more than half of all coronavirus cases.
The model, published at JAMA Network Open on Thursday, shows that it is estimated that 59 percent of all coronavirus cases come from asymptomatic cases, including 35 percent that are presymptomatic, that is, they initially show no symptoms, but who eventually develop them and 24 percent who never show signs of COVID-19 symptoms.
“The results of this study suggest that the identification and isolation of people with symptomatic COVID-19 alone will not control the continued spread of SARS-CoV-2,” the researchers wrote in describing their findings.
The model supports preventive measures that experts have recommended for months, such as wearing a face covering and practicing social distancing.
“The end result is controlling the COVID-19 pandemic that will really require controlling the silent pandemic of asymptomatic transmission of people,” C. C. Butler, CDC’s deputy director of infectious diseases and co-author of the study, told Washington. Publication. “The community mitigation tools we have need to be widely used to be able to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2 from all infected people, at least until we have these vaccines widely available.”
Effectively controlling the spread of the virus requires reducing the risk of transmission of asymptomatic people and identifying and isolating people with symptoms of COVID-19, the study authors wrote.
The results “suggest that measures such as putting on masks, hand hygiene, social distancing and strategic testing of people who are not ill will be critical to curbing the spread of COVID-19 until safe and effective vaccines are available and widely used.” . he wrote.