Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Nearly 60% Of Covid Cases Transmitted By People Without Symptoms: CDC
The Washington Post: People Without Symptoms Spread Virus In More Than Half Of Cases, CDC Model Finds
People with no symptoms transmit more than half of all cases of the novel coronavirus, according to a model developed by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Their findings reinforce the importance of following the agency’s guidelines: Regardless of whether you feel ill, wear a mask, wash your hands, stay socially distant and get a coronavirus test. That advice has been a constant refrain in a pandemic responsible for more than 350,000 deaths in the United States. (Guarino, 1/7)
WRAL: New CDC Data Shows Nearly 60% Of COVID-19 Transmissions Come From Asymptomatic Carriers
New data from the CDC shows more than half of COVID-19 transmissions come from people who don’t even know they have it. A new model shows that 59% of all transferals come from asymptomatic carriers. That includes 35% of people who were pre-symptomatic and 24% who never developed any symptoms. “It’s really a signal that someone’s immune system has not yet responded to the virus entering the body, that’s one possibility,” says UNC Dr. Alexa Mieses Malchuk. (1/7)
The Washington Post: U.S. Sets Covid-19 Death Record As Researchers Point To Asymptomatic Cases
As the United States marked another grim milestone Thursday with more than 4,000 covid-19 deaths reported in a single day, federal disease trackers said research suggests that people without symptoms transmit more than half of all cases of the novel coronavirus. The findings, which came from a model developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, demonstrate the importance of following the agency’s guidelines about wearing a mask and maintaining social distance, officials said. The emergence of a more contagious variant of the virus, first detected in the United Kingdom and discovered in eight U.S. states by Thursday, places the federal agency’s conclusion about how the virus is spreading in even starker relief. (Shammas and Guarino, 1/7)
Another study of asymptomatic spread has been used to spread misinformation —
AFP Fact Check: Article Headline Misleads On Study Into Covid-19 Asymptomatic Transmission
A screenshot of an article headline reporting that a study showed that asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 “didn’t occur at all” has been shared in multiple Facebook and Instagram posts. The claim is misleading; the authors of the study said their results do not show that asymptomatic carriers cannot transmit Covid-19 and warned against generalising the study’s findings. (1/8)
