A new model from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that those who are infected but show no signs of COVID-19 account for more than half of all cases of coronavirus.
The model, published in the JAMA Network Open on Thursday, shows that an estimated 59% of all coronavirus cases are from those who are asymptomatic, including 35% who are presymptomatic, which means that they initially do not show symptoms, but eventually developed – and 24% who never develop signs of symptoms of COVID-19.
“The findings of this study suggest that the identification and isolation of individuals with symptomatic COVID-19 alone will not control the ongoing spread of SARS-CoV-2,” the researchers wrote as they described their findings.
The model supports the preventative measures that experts have been recommending for months, such as covering a face and practicing social distance.
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“The bottom line is that the COVID-19 pandemic is being controlled to control the silent pandemic of transmission of asymptomatic individuals,” said Jay C. Butler, CDC deputy director of infectious diseases and co-author of the study. told the Washington. Post. “The community mitigation tools we have should be widely used to delay the spread of SARS-CoV-2 from all infected persons, at least until we have the vaccines widely available.”
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Effective control of the spread of the virus requires that the risk of transmission of people without symptoms be reduced, and that people with COVID-19 symptoms be identified and isolated, the authors of the study wrote.
The findings “suggest that measures such as wearing masks, hand hygiene, social distance and strategic testing of non-sick people will be the basis for delaying the spread of COVID-19 until safe and effective vaccines are available and widespread. used, “the authors wrote.