Srinagar: Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Saturday said asymptomatic cases of Coronavirus can infect other people and spread the disease. “Asymptomatic cases are silent spreaders of the disease,” said DAK President Dr Nisar ul Hassan in a statement.

“Feeling good or having an absence of symptoms doesn’t mean you can’t infect someone else,” he said. Dr Nisar said while people displaying symptoms spread the virus through droplets when they cough or sneeze, someone who is not showing the symptoms, but still has the virus can transmit the disease in the same way. “The first confirmation that the novel coronavirus could be transmitted by asymptomatic people came in February when a case study described a 20-year-old woman from Wuhan China who passed the virus to five family members but never got physically sick herself,” he said.

“Emerging body of data suggests that asymptomatic carriers are more likely contributing to the rapid spread of the disease making it challenging for experts to assess the true extent of the pandemic,” he added. Dr Nisar said a recent study published in the British Medical Journal suggested that 78 percent people with Covid-19 had no symptoms. “The new paper is based on the data that Chinese authorities began publishing daily from April 1 on the number of new cases in the country that are asymptomatic,” he said. “More than 70 percent confirmed cases of a novel coronavirus in Kashmir valley are asymptomatic. That is a huge number. These are the contacts. We just don’t know how many more may be out there,” he said. “The high percentage of asymptomatic individuals should motivate us for mass screening of the population. “Understanding exactly how coronavirus is spreading is important in containing the illness and keeping people healthy,” said Dr Nisar.

KR Desk