While the first effects of containment to try to stem the spread of the coronavirus will be concrete in the coming days, many French people are wondering about several aspects of Covid-19, and in particular its contagiousness. Because if the Minister of Health Olivier Véran indicated in early March that the virus "is asymptomatic or mild in the vast majority of French people", some wonder if someone without symptoms can transmit the virus.
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An infected person can infect three around them
Yes, answer all the doctors, including Jimmy Mohamed, consultant and columnist for Europe 1. It is also this "easy" transmission which justified on March 12 the closure of schools, colleges, high schools and universities. "A healthy carrier is a person whose body is infected with the virus and who is 'the host' of the virus, but who shows no signs of the disease. It is said to be asymptomatic, but it remains contagious. This is especially true for children, adolescents and young adults, "he said.
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"We consider that when we have the coronavirus, we will infect on average three people around us," continues the doctor. The only unknown is the length of time that an asymptomatic patient is contagious. "We think of 14 days, with extremes that can range from three to 14 days. On average, it would be seven days," said Jimmy Mohamed at the microphone of Europe 1.
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A healthy carrier would be less contagious than someone with symptoms
"However, we still think that the healthy carrier would be less contagious compared to someone who has symptoms," said Jimmy Mohamed. "Since when you have the virus, you have to excrete in the droplets (cough, sneeze) to transmit the disease," says the doctor. Because how can you be so contagious if you don't cough or sneeze? Rest touch, but several transmission factors are already reduced.
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"There is a study going on to find out how contagious healthy carriers are and for how long," concludes Jimmy Mohamed. "A study on 300 patients: we will take samples from the nose for 14 days to assess their viral load. (...) Some patients are super-excretory and will contaminate a lot of people around them while others are less likely to be contagious. "