Asymptomatic carriers are those who are infected by the COVID19 virus but display delayed or vague symptoms. This is far more dangerous and frightening than those that show immediate signs of infection. Think of asymptomatic carriers as a silent, untraceable, and ravenous serial killer that is almost impossible to catch. That is the difficulty faced by both healthcare professionals and authorities who work round the clock to stymie the spread.
This novel virus proves unpredictable
Scientists are still scrambling to agree on the role asymptomatic transmission plays in the spreading of the disease. One thing is for sure: it spreads so silently, the carrier doesn’t even know it carries it. Initially, a patient is thought to develop symptoms within five days but now the incubation period can be as long as three weeks.
The reported number of cases are no longer accurate
This forces authorities to rethink and tally their cases differently. This may also be the reason why Singapore has been seeing multiple record increases in cases over the last week. The true numbers may be higher, as in the case of a nursing facility in Washington, U.S.A., where 13 out of the 23 who tested positive showed no symptoms in the beginning.
The ever-changing virus landscape
The World Health Organization (WHO) first declared that asymptomatic transmissions were “extremely rare”, accounting for only one to three per cent of the cases in China. However, in a letter to the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, a Japanese team of epidemiologists led by Hiroshi Nishiura reported that a substantial number of cases remain underdiagnosed. This is evident in South Korea where 20% of asymptomatic cases had no symptoms until they were discharged.
Just keep testing, just keep testing
Countries around the world, more so the hardest hit ones, have ramped up their tests and are doing so by the thousands daily. Ministers and officials have encouraged their citizens, frontline workers, in particular, to get themselves tested regardless of the presence of symptoms. While Singapore doesn’t practice blanket tests like other countries, we have increased our rate of tests from 2,800 daily to 2,900; this may feel like a small increase but it has consistently inched higher, especially with record-breaking new cases being reported every few days now.
Conclusion
“Silent spreaders”, “stealth transmission”, “untraceable killers”, call it what you may, the fact is the absence of symptoms doesn’t mean you are safe. It remains one of the largest causes of concern simply because it makes the already deadly virus deadlier by making it more cumbersome to trace. We are staring in the face of great danger, one exacerbated and made more menacing in this dense and globalized world.