Updated: How COVID-19 is spread
Bottom Line: As we’re mired in the mist of flu season which has essentially become the season of COVID this year (with spread of the traditional flu virus remaining minimal across the country and in Florida based on the CDC’s flu map), we’re learning more about how COVID-19 is being spread. Yes, you’re aware that it’s airborne and it can be transmitted on surfaces but how is it specifically being transmitted? Most recently we had a study from researchers at the University of Texas at Austin which showed the causation behind transmitting within the states. Here’s the latest:
- Travel: 34%
- Activities in public: 26%
- Population density: 23%
Now we have an update based on a recent CDC study regarding who is transmitting and specifically how many COVID-19 infections remain asymptomatic. According to the study, asymptomatic carriers are responsible for most of the transmission thus far in the new year. Specifically, 59% of the spread of COVID-19 is occurring through people who aren’t showing symptoms. This emphasizes the importance of remaining careful generally, even among those you encounter who seem to be healthy. Perhaps even more instructive than knowing most of the spread is coming from asymptomatic carriers are those who remain asymptomatic. According to the same CDC study, 24% of Americans who contract COVID-19 never show symptoms.
While many have wondered about the potential for overreporting of COVID-19 cases based on duplicate tests, false positives, etc. What this shows is that almost certainly there have been and are many more people infected with the virus than we’ve been or will be aware of. In a separate story today I’m going to attempt to gauge the actual number of COVID cases regardless of who has and hasn’t been tested by using the CDC’s excess death data.
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