That is a serious, potentially fatal (literally!) mistake. One of the things that makes covid-19 so nasty is that it is transmissible long before the onset of symptoms.
"First, COVID-19 does not transmit as efficiently as influenza, from the data we have so far.
With influenza, people who are infected but not yet sick are major drivers of transmission, which does not appear to be the case for COVID-19.
Evidence from China is that only 1% of reported cases do not have symptoms, and most of those cases develop symptoms within 2 days."
This report is from March 3rd, so maybe our understanding has evolved.
I may be missing something here, but this seems like selection bias. If they're not showing symptoms, they're much less likely to get tested and, as such, reported.
A speech from the director-general. Not a report?
> With influenza, people who are infected but not yet sick are major drivers of transmission, which does not appear to be the case for COVID-19.
This is the same WHO that claimed "no evidence of human to human transmission" not long ago. Regardless, iirc, the R0 for SARS-CoV-2 is estimated at 2.5 to 3.5, much higher than Influenza's, which is at 1.8. It doesn't matter if SARS-CoV-2 is spread by the infected yet not sick, because the R0 is significantly higher, plus the incubation period is too damn long and there's no therapeutic treatment nor a vaccine.
When the dust settles, and more conclusive and complete research is done to learn about the virus, we will have all the answers, but given the current state of affairs, imo, it is highly unlikely that SARS-CoV-2 is any less infectious than Influenza.
Does WHO reference any studies that prove asymptomatic folks don't infect others?
If you happen to know, what explains the higher R0 and higher rate of infection world-wide?
> ...for example people having their temperature checked outside public buildings.
That isn't bullet-proof, tbh. India saw instances of people popping paracetamols to work around temperature checks.
I am not aware of any studies but on the other hand it would be incredibly easy for cases of asymptomatic spread to actually have been infected by a symptomatic person, in a chaotic environment it's difficult to get good data.
That may well be, but "not the main driver" != "not a driver". Do you really want to roll those dice?
Like, I get that you start shedding the virus, but if you don't cough or sneeze and practice generally good hygene it should not spread, right?
People cough and sneeze all the time even if they are healthy. Also, when you talk, you expel droplets of saliva when you make sounds like "P" or "B" or "K". The virus travels in those droplets. They float through the air, someone else breathes them in, and voila.
1. Mucus. Cold weather can trigger a brief runny nose, which in turn is easy to wipe on sleeves, arms, or the back of the hand without much/any thought.
2. Saliva. Spittle from speaking is just about impossible to stop.