There has been a clarification of the W H O statement about asymptomatic transmission. The Q&A is now on the news. Here are two statements from the clarification:
Whether someone is presymptomatic or or simply experiencing very mild symptoms is not of importance to the person on the receiving end of the transmission, said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University professor and longtime adviser to the CDC.
"I thought they were getting very prissy and trying to slice the salami very fine," Schaffner said about WHO's comments on Monday on asymptomatic spread.
"You can be vertical and feel 100% or virtually 100% and going about your daily business and unaware that you're infected and perfectly capable transmitting the virus," Schaffner said. "How do we inhibit transmission of the virus by these people who are doing their full range of normal activities? The answer is social distancing and wearing masks and good hand hygiene and stay away from crowds. That's the formula."
Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's technical lead for coronavirus response and head of its emerging diseases and zoonoses unit, said during a media briefing in Geneva on Monday that "it still seems to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual."
But then on Tuesday, during the live Q&A, she clarified "this is a major unknown."
"We do know that some people who are asymptomatic, or some people who don't have symptoms, can transmit the virus on," she said. "So what we need to better understand is how many of the people in the population don't have symptoms and separately how many of those individuals go on to transmit to others."
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