A World Health Organization official is walking back her remark after she suggested asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 cannot widely spread the virus easily.
During a press conference on Monday, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, said, “From the data we have, it still seems to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual. It’s very rare.”
However, on Tuesday, Kerkhove walked back those remarks.
“I was responding to a question at the press conference. I wasn’t stating a policy of WHO or anything like that,” she said.
Kerkhove continued, “I was trying to articulate what we know, and in that, I used the phrase ‘very rare.’ And I think that’s a misunderstanding, to state that asymptomatic transmission is very rare.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cites studies that show “a significant portion of individuals with coronavirus lack symptoms (‘asymptomatic’) and that even those who eventually develop symptoms (‘pre-symptomatic’) can transmit the virus to others before showing symptoms,” its website reads.
The CDC also recommends people wear a cloth face covering when out in public and to follow other social distancing guidelines.
It also notes “the cloth face coverings recommended are not surgical masks or N-95 respirators,” as “those are critical supplies that must continue to be reserved for healthcare workers and other medical first responders.”
There are more than 2,029,837 confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. and at least 113,235 deaths and 773,543 recoveries, as of Tuesday morning.
Coronavirus cases have surged in Southwestern U.S. states, including Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, as IJR reported. Additionally, 21 states have reported weekly increases. Both Pennsylvania and New York are leading with the longest streak of declines in cases, with eight straight weeks.
