Quote:
Originally Posted by Velvet
Not “small” I just read a new study from Iceland where wide spread testing was conducted shows 50% of people testing positive were asymptomatic and shedding.
CNN
Some of the revelations have been stark. Although fewer than 1% of the tests came back positive for the virus, the company's founder Dr. Kári Stefánsson told CNN that around 50% of those who tested positive said they were asymptomatic, confirming multiple studies that show that asymptomatic, or mildly symptomatic, people have played an important role in spreading the virus.
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Thanks for that, Velvet. Yes it’s unsettling to know asymptomatic people can infect, and have infected, other people. So social isolation is indeed a good thing. But what’s still unknown is the likelihood of passing it on while asymptomatic.
I’ve seen some references (hoping they’re true because I’ve seen a number of them) that suggest the odds are small, and it’s much more likely that symptomatic people spread the virus. Knowing 50% of positive Icelanders are asymptomatic doesn’t reveal much about degree of contagiousness. I’d like to know more about their habits. Were they rarely around other people? Did they go to bars, concerts and sporting events? That sort of thing. I’m sure the Icelandic Health Department asked those questions on intake, but unfortunately investigative journalism has gone the way of poodle skirts, and today’s reporters are either unaware that high standards require digging deeper, or they are discouraged by their outlets from releasing anything that softens the message (my opinion, B).
Nonetheless, 50% is a very sobering number. It certainly underscores the need to step up testing dramatically. And it’s why the OP is being advised that infection by unwitting asymptomatic people is theoretically possible.