Asymptomatic and symptomatic COVID-19 patients show similar shedding patternsPatients with confirmed asymptomatic COVID-19 infections shed virus at similar levels to those who are experiencing symptoms, underscoring the importance of public health actions to control the spread of the virus, researchers from South Korea reported yesterday in JAMA Internal Medicine.Their cohort study involved 303 patients who were isolated at a community treatment center in Cheonan in March.
Health workers carefully tracked patients' symptoms during isolation. Among the group 193 (63.7%) had symptoms at the start of isolation, and 21 (19.1%) of the asymptomatic patients went on the develop symptoms.