WHO: Asymptomatics aren’t driving the spread of the coronavirus

In a video statement released by the World Health Organization yesterday, June 8, 2020, it said that asymptomatic spread is very rare.

According to Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, this finding has several policy implications. In light of this discovery, Dr. Van Kerkhove says that the more important approach for limiting the spread of the virus are isolating the symptomatic cases, tracing and quarantining their contacts. 

Editor’s Note: In the Briefing Paper written by Nicanor, he has already recommended this strategy. He named it the Precision Quarantine and Immunity (PQI) approach which highlighted the importance of identifying the vulnerable groups and supporting the health of those who are most at risk, and boosting the immunity of the general population. 

This article also confirms two of the important insights we have been sharing in this website: (1) that there is no longer any point for lockdowns to continue as there are other methods that can be utilized to control the spread of the coronavirus, and (2) boosting one’s immunity and developing collective immunity will also protect those who are vulnerable to the disease.