Topic #1: Asymptomatic COVID

Question: Is it possible to be infected and have no symptoms?

Answer: Yes. This is called ASYMPTOMATIC INFECTION. It is one of the reasons SOCIAL DISTANCING is necessary to stop the virus from spreading

We can learn from what happened on the Diamond Princess Cruise Ship. All passengers on this cruise ship were put under quarantine in Yokohama, Japan, after one former passenger tested positive for COVID in early February.  During quarantine from February 5th to 20th, passengers on the ship were tested for COVID and many were found to be infected. Intensive research estimated that 18% of those infected were asymptomatic (i.e. had no symptoms).

Asymptomatic COVID patients have been called “silent patients.  While they are not sick from the virus, some of them can transmit the virus to other people. This is why social distancing is important to stop the spread of COVID.

These facts show that some infected asymptomatic persons can transmit the virus:

• Asymptomatic infected persons shed the virus as much as infected persons who have symptoms
• There are well-documented instances of COVID transmission from asymptomatic persons. Some asymptomatic people who transmit the virus do so in the incubation period, which is the window period between becoming infected and falling ill.

Join us on the next COVID – Blackboard.