Asymptomatic COVID-19

I saw a statistic yesterday that about 50% of the sailors on the Roosevelt were positive, and asymptomatic. This also lines up with the NY state and NYC statistics that found 14% of state population positive, and 21% of NYC population positive. In NYC that is 2.7 million positive (if the numbers are correct), about 50 times more cases than the official count.

In my mind this is good news - it means the virus has a fatality rate of something like 0.5% - still way worse than the flu, but 10 times better than the 5% number that was bandied about a few weeks ago.

Rob

All good points. And he lives with his wife, who has not been tested, could be his doctor will tell her to. He has a factime appointment with his doctor this afternoon to discuss this, as well as whether he should retest, or later test for antibodies, maybe contribute plasma.

Now that i think about it, he was telling me he was running around 2 weeks ago, shopping at costco, etc. So maybe there you go.
I hope he doesn't develop symptoms in the next week or so, its still possible. He is in good health, but age 67

One of the more angst-producing features of this thing is the not-knowing that it causes.

So many of us (me, for instance), have had no cold/flu/viral symptoms at all for some time now. So does that mean we were exposed to this thing, but have shown no observable negative results? Or does it mean we just haven't had any contact with it at all yet?

As one might expect, there are a good number of articles out there right now doing cross-comparisons of the symptoms of the cold, the flu, and COVID-19.

Hopefully this is of some use if one has had "something" recently, and, based on the symptoms it showed, we are trying to get at least an idea of which of the three it might have been.

The article below attempts that, and is handy because it lists in tabular form the symptoms that each of the three can display, along with the likelihood that each will do so.

Certainly not scientifically precise, and not to be relied on, but maybe of some value, if only to present a picture of how common symptoms of the three compare.

https://www.medicinenet.com/covid-19_vs_flu_vs_cold/article.htm

Michael_T, Read the same article. Wife back ordered an oximeter. Maybe will show up? Way we read the article, much more important in monitoring possible disease at home than a thermometer.

I think what your friend experienced will be more the rule than the exception. Many people had it and were asymptomatic on those various cruises, the aircraft carrier, New York City and some towns in California.

I think for those of us who are ~55 or over there is going to be frequent testing in our future, checking both for antibodies and current infection. It might be expensive initially but on a relative basis, compared to 22 million(!!!!)unemployed, its a bargain.

garyi said...
The troubling question is how many people did this guy, and all other asymptomatics, unwittingly infect. That may be our biggest problem going forward.

Yes that is an unequivocally true statement. It is particularly a problem for the 55 and over crowd, which Covid-19 seems to prefer over the younger folks. Wearing a mask helps prevent an asymptomatic from spreading and I dont think its unreasonable to expect people to wear a mask for a while. Its a sign of respect.

If this drags on and on, there is going to be a need for home testing kits, as easy to use, fast, reliable and convenient as pregnancy tests.

Prato:
That's an interesting post. In almost all areas it's impossible to get such a test without doctor's orders.
And who paid for it? Unlikely that insurance would pay for a test that wasn't ordered. Was it free perhaps?

Well BB...if the leader of our country won't respond to questions he doesn't like...well...you get my point...as Walt Whitman...onece said...' you think you know...and you just don't.'..but what does he know ?? my question was sincere...do not throw it back at me...I am clear to a fault when I need to be...misinformation on this subject is one of the hallmarks of this whole ting...please do not pick pepper out of fly shat

Pratoman said...
Sailor, not sure but I think Medicare is now paying fir all CV tests.
As an aside, yesterday a “pop-up testing center was opened up in an “economically disadvantaged” area of West Palm Beach. It was a planned 4 hour , one day only, opening. Anybody could just come in and do a test, but they had to show proof that they lived in one of the 2 zip codes that the center was meant to serve.
They did 200 tests (they were prepared to do 500)

All kinds of interesting stuff happening in Florida with testing.

It's not often that Florida is 'ahead of the curve'...

Prat...just wondering. Did your friend ever exhibit any symptoms? Did his wife ever test positive?

Michael_T said...
Prat...just wondering. Did your friend ever exhibit any symptoms? Did his wife ever test positive?

Michael, no he never had any symptoms other than really bad heartburn which drove him to the emergency room. But that’s something he’s dealt with chronically. I only mention it because his Dr said it’s possible that it could have been aggravated by the virus.
And his wife tested negative a week after he was diagnosed. Which was very strange IMO.
He retested yesterday, so we’ll see.
I wouldn’t be surprised if his test was a false positive, but I guess we’ll never know.

Not sure, but I’ll find out