COVID-19 Update: WHO Clarifies Asymptomatic Transmission Comments

Facilities need to keep on top of cleaning and disinfecting, assuming the coronavirus may be present even if building patrons are asymptomatic. On Tuesday the World Health Organization (WHO) was quick to clarify comments made Monday by one of its top scientists that transmission of the coronavirus by people who are asymptomatic is “very rare.”

Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove’s statement came as she answered questions during a press conference and it quickly garnered wide media attention and skepticism from physicians and other across social media, CNBC reported.

Kerkhove, who heads the WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, clarified her statements Tuesday in a live Q&A streamed on social media. According to CNBC, she said that asymptomatic spread is a “really complex question” and much is still unknown.

“I was responding to a question at the press conference. I wasn’t stating a policy of WHO or anything like that. I was just trying to articulate what we know,” Kerkhove said during the Q&A. “And in that, I used the phrase ‘very rare,’ and I think that that’s misunderstanding to state that asymptomatic transmission globally is very rare. I was referring to a small subset of studies.”