People with 'silent' COVID-19 have as much coronavirus as those with symptoms.

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They are relatively common so may act as important driver of viral spread, warn researchers. People with ‘silent’ COVID-19 infection have as much coronavirus in their noses and throats as those with symptoms, reveals research published online in the journal Thorax.

Given how many of these people there are---a fifth of those infected, the study findings show--they may have a key role in driving the spread of COVID-19, warn the researchers, who go on to suggest that this warrants extending testing provision. People infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, but who don’t have symptoms, still carry potentially transmissible virus, known as the viral load.

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Thorax:

thorax.bmj.com/content/earl...

[Mavary]

This is why we want a test to see if you’ve got or had coronavirus.