Beds are set up in a tent as volunteers from the International Christian relief organization Samaritans Purse set up an Emergency Field Hospital for patients suffering from the coronavirus in Central Park across Fifth Avenue from Mt. Sinai Hospital, March 30, 2020 in New York.Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images
But this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield estimated asymptomatic transmission could be as high as 25%. And early data from pandemic hotspots seems to indicate that many people don’t have symptoms on the day they were tested.
For example, among the over 3,700 passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise liner who tested positive for COVID-19, more than 46% were not showing symptoms at the time they were tested. In Iceland, about half of the people who tested positive for COVID-19 were asymptomatic, according to one study.
And here in the United States, during the outbreak at a long-term care skilled nursing facility in King County, Washington, 23 residents tested positive, despite 13 being asymptomatic that day, according to the CDC.
“The virus has a long incubation period so symptoms might not appear until five to 14 days,” Dr. Simone Wildes, an infectious disease specialist at South Shore Health, said. “Therefore, people can be spreading the disease without actually knowing they are sick.”
With testing in the United States is still reserved mostly for those who are already sick, there’s no way to know if you are one of these asymptomatic carriers. Right now, the country does not have enough tests to warrant mass testing among people who feel healthy.
“There may be a role for testing certain high-risk groups to rule out asymptomatic infection, but at this stage, that would be an exception and not the rule,” Ellerin said. “That is not ready for prime time.”
The federal government’s recommendations around mask-wearing could soon evolve, with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases telling CNN that the idea that all Americans should wear masks is “under very active consideration.”
Navy Vet