Up to 80% of COVID-19 Infections Are Asymptomatic, a New Case Report Says

Time.com ^ | May 27, 2020 | JAMIE DUCHARME

[CheshireTheCat]

In one cruise-ship coronavirus outbreak, more than 80% of people who tested positive for COVID-19 did not show any symptoms of the disease, according to a new paper published in the journal Thorax.

The research shows just how prevalent asymptomatic transmission of COVID-19 may be—a reality that both suggests official case counts are drastic underestimates, and emphasizes the importance of practicing social distancing even if you feel healthy.

Researchers have known for months that asymptomatic transmission of COVID-19 is possible and common, but without population-wide testing, it’s been difficult to estimate how many people get infected without showing symptoms. The new paper provides an example of how widespread asymptomatic transmission can be, at least in a contained environment.

[CheshireTheCat]

I've been wondering about the cruise ship data and why we have not seen nearly enough of it for a closed population that presents the perfect study group.

[KarlInOhio]

What’s the viral load of someone who is asymptomatic compared to the symptomatic? If your lungs aren’t ravaged the the ‘rona, do you spread just as much or not?

[Chauncey Gardiner]

Are they asymptomatic or are the tests bogus like the now infamous paw paw fruit testing positive in Tanzania.

[GnuThere]

But yet we must wear masks and keep schools closed until at least Nov 4.

[Savage Rider]

The food invisible boogey-man. Be afraid ... be very afraid.

[norcal joe]

What’s the viral load of someone who is asymptomatic compared to the symptomatic?

That's the $64,000 question. The answer would affect how and when we open schools, really anything to do with kids. So why doesn't somebody spend the $64,000, or whatever it takes, to investigate that?

[FreeperCell]

Might not get the answer they want.

[BenLurkin]

If 4 out of 5 people dont even get a sniffle the the Wuhan Flu isnt nearly as bad as weve been told.

[sistergoldenhair]

What’s the viral load of someone who is asymptomatic compared to the symptomatic?

I'm not convinced that these asymptomatics are shedding viable virus.

[asinclair]

Did they take blood tests? Did they determine the amount of zinc in each asymptomatic person?

In other words, did the asymptomatic people have a regular amount of zinc on board?

[JayGalt]

Which emphasizes why we don’t need masks except perhaps the elderly with other illnesses.

[Freee-dame]

Elderly people with underlying comorbidities should probably self isolate until there is a vaccine. It should still be there choice. Everyone else should go about living.

[jdsteel]

80% are asymptomatic.

Of those with symptoms 99% get better.

EVERYBODY PANIC!!!

[LibFreeUSA]

Just wash your hands and refrain from touching your face. Trash the mask and fake protection of social distancing.

[null and void]

I've been wondering about the cruise ship data and why we have not seen nearly enough of it for a closed population that presents the perfect study group.

Data that doesn't forward The Agenda simply doesn't get reported.

Bring Out Your Dead

Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.

The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.

The false positive rate was 100%.

At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.

*sigh* Such is life, and death...

If a quarantine saves just one child's or one old fart’s life, it's worth it.

[mistfree]

NIH published an article on May 3 describing an asymptomatic pt. who had contact with 455 people with an average contact time of 4 days and no-one, I repeat NO_ONE came down with the virus.

[JayGalt]

Yes, but not til a vaccine, just til the case numbers drop. I would not trust a vaccine on the elderly and one may never be ready in any case. Can’t wait for a vaccine.

[Pearls Before Swine]

NIH published an article on May 3 describing an asymptomatic pt. who had contact with 455 people with an average contact time of 4 days and no-one, I repeat NO_ONE came down with the virus.

That's amazing and encouraging, but hard to square with the account of the guy in New York early on who went to a wedding and a syanagogue, infected the rabbi, his whole family, and some 50-odd other people.

Are there substantially different strains of the virus? Or what makes somebody a super-spreader? Or, how many virions does one have to pick up on average to get infected?

Questions... many questions.

[null and void]

If 4 out of 5 people don't even get a sniffle the the Wuhan Flu isn't nearly as bad as we've been told.

Apparently, based on the reactions of the people who developed this biowarfare agent when it was detected outside the confines of the lab that developed it, spoke volumes:

It WAS every bit as bad as we were told.

Fortunately, it, like most Chinese products, was shoddy, and quickly lost its edge in use...

[FreedomForce]

“We report temporal patterns of viral shedding in 94 patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 and modeled COVID-19 infectiousness profiles from a separate sample of 77 infector–infectee transmission pairs. We observed the highest viral load in throat swabs at the time of symptom onset, and inferred that infectiousness peaked on or before symptom onset.”

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0869-5