‘Few asymptomatic cases’

Lending a cleaning hand Cemetery workers in protective suits cleaning tombs at the Babaoshan cemetery in Beijing. People can ask cemetery workers to help clean tombs and place flowers and offerings to deceased relatives during the Qing Ming Festival, which falls on April 4 this year, to prevent the normally large family gatherings following the Covid-19 outbreak. — Xinhua/AP

BEIJING: There aren’t a large number of asymptomatic patients of Covid-19 pneumonia in China now, a renowned respiratory expert said during an interview with China Central Television.

Asymptomatic Covid-19 patients refer to those who do not show any symptoms, including fever and cough, but their tests for the novel coronavirus are positive.

Zhong Nanshan, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said the infection rate is usually very high of those who have close contact with asymptomatic novel coronavirus carriers.

“But the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases is reducing in the mainland, which indicates that China did not have many asymptomatic novel coronavirus carriers, ” Zhong said yesterday.

However, Zhong said he did not have any specific number on China’s asymptomatic novel coronavirus carriers and that more detailed and professional studies and research were needed in the following months.

At a symposium held in Shanghai on Friday, Zhang Wenhong, leader of the Shanghai team of experts in the treatment of Covid-19 cases, said asymptomatic coronavirus carriers might not show symptoms for more than three weeks and would not be detected if they did not go to hospital for virus tests.

“Those asymptomatic coronavirus carriers usually have strong immunities and show no symptoms for more than two weeks despite being infected.

“If they return home from abroad and are not isolated timely or are released from the two-week quarantine, they will cause a great risk of community infection, ” Zhang added.

“That is the tricky point of the novel coronavirus’ containment.”

Wu Fan, director of the Shanghai Preventive Medicine Association, said the most effective way to prevent oneself from being infected by the asymptomatic coronavirus carriers is to strengthen personal protection. — China Daily/ANN