Half of those infected with coronavirus have no symptoms: why is it bad

According to data from Iceland, the Italian city of Vaud and the cruise ship Diamond Princess, about half of people infected with coronavirus show no symptoms. Writes about it Fox News.

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What makes the data from these places particularly interesting to researchers is that half of those infected did not show any symptoms—something that is not true in the United States and most countries.

Experts say this discovery is of particular importance and shows that even more extensive testing may be required to identify all media.

Cruise liners

All 3711 passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship were tested. According to the Japanese health agency, also cited by the CDC, 712 people had positive results, of which 331 (46 percent) never had external symptoms.

“Many cases appear to be asymptomatic. This is both good and bad news because it means the virus' lethality may be lower than originally thought, but also that people may be unknowingly spreading the virus,” Patrick T. Dolan, a virologist at the University of California, told Fox News in San Francisco.

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Experts say the discovery is important and shows that even more testing may be required to identify all media.

It is also expected that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will soon recommend wearing masks for everyone in the hot spots of the virus, as this can help prevent the spread of the virus among people who do not have symptoms.

Health experts say asymptomatic carriers are a serious problem. The situation requires "the best national broad testing policy to isolate asymptomatic cases," said Ali S. Khan, dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

The US started testing late, but is quickly becoming the world leader in the spread of coronavirus.

Iceland

In Iceland, more than 6% of all residents of the country were tested, which is the largest share in the world. Almost half of these tests were conducted as part of a “screening program,” in which anyone who asks for a test can get it even if they have mild symptoms or are absent.

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“Of the 5502 samples collected as part of the screening program from March 13 to 19, 50 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. 66% of these people reported symptoms such as cough and body pain, while the rest had no symptoms,” the Icelandic Health Authority said.

People without symptoms can spread the disease, but “we know that the virus is much more likely to spread from person to person if someone who is infected shows symptoms,” Njalsson said.

The good news is that a high percentage of cases without symptoms means that more people have recovered than the researchers thought. But virologists say that even with this in mind, more than a million people can die if precautions are not taken.

“Practice social distancing and other measures, such as wearing some kind of face mask, perhaps even a homemade one, when you go to buy food or buy medicine,” says Dr. Peter Kolchinsky, author of The Great American Drug Deal: new recipe." He trained as a virologist and is a managing partner at RA Capital Management, which invests in the development of new drugs.

“We should all try to stay uninfected to reduce the pressure on hospitals until we get effective treatments and vaccines. Once we get widespread testing, people can go back to work,” he said.

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