As the coronavirus crisis continues to accelerate, nearly all affected countries are increasing the testing in order to trace new infections as well as devise new strategies to control the virus specifically in hotspots. The increase in testing can provide several benefits, according to research. Now, a report further shows the advantages of testing by highlighting how only twenty-two percent of people with the infection display coronavirus symptoms.
This not only shows that testing is fundamental but also confirms the previous theories of health experts. For instance, scientists argued that the virus spreads majorly through people who do not show any of the known coronavirus symptoms since the beginning of the pandemic.
In the past three months, there have been several debates about the transmission of the coronavirus. With the rise in research, health agencies and scientists have changed their views a number of times, including the World Health Organization.
At the start of March, the WHO was firm about the virus spreading primarily through asymptomatic people. However, a few weeks ago, the agency stated that the claim may be debatable. At the moment, WHO does not have any single stance but now several health professionals confirm asymptomatic people play a primary role.
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As the testing has increased, scientists are also noting the change in trends of the pandemic. For example, the medical community warned that young people are now spreading the virus more than ever. In the US, young adults are specifically seen to act irresponsibly and contribute to coronavirus transmission.
This is the reason why the US has reported record highs every single day in the past week. The states of Florida, Texas, California, ad Arizona are seeing tremendous increases since reopening.
Even though the president of the country, Donald Trump claims the rise is due to an increase in testing, health experts disagree. If the rise was merely due to more people getting a coronavirus test, hospitals would not be full.
The hospitals in the city of Houston in Texas have also recently reported that they no longer have space for accomodating new patients of coronavirus infection, specifically in the Intensive Care Unit. However, this does not mean that testing is no needed.
Instead, the new report on coronavirus testing adds further evidence as to why the practice is important. Had countries made tracing teams in the early days of the pandemic, predicting and preventing coronavirus hotspots would have been much easier.
The report by the Office for National Statistics showed that the majority of the people carrying and spreading the virus usually are not aware of having it. This is why the infection easily spreads from one person to another as the infected person does not display coronavirus symptoms.
Read more on coronavirus in the UK here.
In addition, the findings also showed that social workers, those living in shared houses or larger families, and ethnic minorities are more likely to test positive. This shows how testing and tracing in certain neighborhoods and professions is required.
Overall, nearly seventy-eight percent of the people who do test positive are asymptomatic or display signs at a later stage of the infection. Either way, these results call for an increase in testing for tracing new infections and taking appropriate preventive measures to prevent further transmission.