Asymptomatic COVID-19 in South Africa – implications for the control of transmission
Masudah Paleker, Yamanya Tembo, M-A. Davies, Hassan Mahomed, D. Pienaar, Shabir A. Madhi, Kerrigan McCarthy
Abstract
Asymptomatic COVID-19 may contribute significantly to the pandemic trajectory based on global biological, epidemiological and modelling evidence. A retrospective analysis was done to determine the proportion of asymptomatic COVID-19 in the workplace during the lockdown period from 27 March to 31 May 2020. We found that nearly 45% of cases were asymptomatic at the time of the first test. This high proportion of asymptomatic COVID-19 cases has implications for interventions, such as enforcing quarantine of all close contacts of COVID-19 cases regardless of symptoms.
Topics & Concepts
AsymptomaticCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)QuarantineMedicinePandemicEpidemiologySevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)2019-20 coronavirus outbreakTransmission (telecommunications)Contact tracingPsychological interventionPediatricsVirologyInternal medicinePathologyDiseaseOutbreakInfectious disease (medical specialty)Computer scienceTelecommunicationsPsychiatryCOVID-19 epidemiological studiesSARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 ResearchCOVID-19 Clinical Research Studies