Geneva: A top World Health Organization (WHO) expert on Tuesday sought to clear up misunderstandings after her comments were widely understood to suggest that transmission of the coronavirus by infected people who show no symptoms was rare, insisting she was referring to a few studies, not a complete picture.
The comments made on Monday by Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's the technical lead on the COVID-19 outbreak, triggered confusion and questions among outside experts and health officials who, among other things, have been advising or even requiring healthy people to wear masks to try to prevent the virus' spread.
The clarification at a WHO social media chat showed many questions remain about whether infected people who don't show symptoms like high fever, dry cough or difficulty breathing might transmit the virus to others.
Read | WHO advises wider use of masks in virus hotspots
For months, WHO has long said most transmission is by people who show symptoms.
Van Kerkhove cited some estimates that found between six and 40 percent of the population of transmission may be due to asymptomatic transmission.
"What I was referring to yesterday were very few studies - some two or three studies that have been published - that try to follow asymptomatic cases," she said.
"That's a very small subset of studies," she added. "I used the phrase 'very rare' and I think that that's a misunderstanding to state that asymptomatic transmission globally is very rare. What I was referring to was a subset of studies."
(AP)
