Fact Check: What did WHO say about asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19?

Did the World Health Organization (WHO) say that asymptomatic Covid-19 patients need no isolation as they rarely spread the disease? A video clip of a WHO official saying exactly that in a press conference is circulating on social media with the claim that the global health body has taken a “complete U-turn”.

In the viral clip, epidemiologist and WHO technical lead on the coronavirus pandemic Maria Van Kerkhove is heard saying, “From the data we have, it seems to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a second individual.”

The clip of the WHO press briefing and subsequent TV discussion was a part of an American news programme “Greg Kelly Reports” on Newsmax TV. Anchor Greg Kelly was also astonished at the statement. The video started circulating on Twitter and Facebook with the caption, “Big Story: Unbelievable! Asymptomatic patients need no isolation … A complete U-turn by WHO. After destroying the economy of the world now a complete U-turn!!”

Big Story: Unbelievable! Asymptomatic patients need no isolation … A complete U turn by WHO. After destroying the economy of the world now a complete U turn!! pic.twitter.com/HR0ioVgIqL

— Harsh Sanghavi (@sanghaviharsh) June 13, 2020

India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the viral clip is genuine and WHO did indeed say that asymptomatic spread of Covid-19 seems to be rare. However, it later clarified that it does not have the data to back it up as scientists are still determining the intensity of spread by asymptomatic Covid-19 patients.

The archived version of the viral clip is saved here. Many Facebook users have shared the video.

What triggered the controversy?

In a press briefing on June 8, in an answer to a question on the asymptomatic spread of Covid-19, Kerkhove said, “We are constantly looking at this data and we’re trying to get more information from countries to truly answer this question. It still appears to be rare that an asymptomatic individual actually transmits onward.”

The remark caused an uproar as it contradicts many public health experts who have been talking about the asymptomatic spread of coronavirus.

WHO clarifies

The following day, the WHO clarified that it still does not have the answer to the intensity of spread caused by asymptomatic patients.

“The majority of transmission that we know about is that people who have symptoms transmit the virus to other people through infectious droplets. But there is a subset of people who don’t develop symptoms and to truly understand how many people don’t have symptoms, we don’t actually have that answer yet,” Kerkhove said.

Expert speak

Dr Anthony Fauci, the top infectious diseases expert in the US, said the WHO’s statement on asymptomatic spread “was not correct”. At the “ABC News” programme “Good Morning America”, Fauci said according to “CNN”, evidence shows 25-45 per cent of infected people do not likely have symptoms.

“And we know from epidemiological studies they can transmit to someone who is uninfected even when they’re without symptoms,” said Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

“Asymptomatic spread is Achille’s heel of this outbreak,” tweeted Ashish K Jha, director of Harvard Global Health Institute. Reacting to WHO’s comments on the asymptomatic spread, Jha posted a twitter thread saying, “Both asymptomatic AND pre-symptomatic spread huge problem for controlling the disease. Because folks shedding virus while asymptomatic. Pre-symptomatic has one advantage: you can use contact tracing to find folks they infected. But that doesn’t help prevent the presymptomatic spread”.

Number of asymptomatic cases

Asymptomatic cases are challenging to identify because individuals do not know they are infected unless they are tested, typically as part of a scientific study. Therefore, various studies and their findings vary in this aspect.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 35 per cent of all people with Covid-19 are asymptomatic, but they are just as infectious as those with symptoms. As per the CDC, 40 per cent transmissions take place before people feel sick.

Conclusion

The WHO has indeed said that asymptomatic spread of the new coronavirus is rare. But it later clarified that it does not have enough data about the asymptomatic spread of the disease, as scientists are still determining the intensity of Covid-19 spread by asymptomatic cases.

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