Rise Of The Asymptomatic: Fresh Twist In War On Corona

Tests in Capital & many states reveal a growing number of ‘silent carriers’. Where to confine them & population-testing pose huge challenge for govts

- Milan Sharma and Gulam Jeelani

On Sunday Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that all 186 people diagnosed with COVID-19 across the Capital the previous day had displayed no symptoms of the illness — such as breathlessness, cough, fever or a running nose — and therefore, these patients could be put in a category termed as ‘asymptomatic’.

The very next day, addressing a routine Press briefing, R Gangakhedkar of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the country’s top bio-medical research agency, said a majority of all confirmed Covid-19 cases across the country was asymptomatic.

Of the 53 journalists who tested positive in Mumbai on Monday, as many as 50 had displayed zero symptoms, giving a new twist to the war against Covid-19 – how does one know about the presence of the virus if there are no symptoms at all?

UNWITTING CARRIERS TO SPREADERS

The mounting evidence of increasing asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic infections in the country has sparked concerns among governments and health agencies. In as many as 10 states reporting more cases than others, two-third of diagnosed patients are what experts call “silent spreaders,” who have perhaps been spreading the infection, albeit unwittingly.