Task Force: People Who Appear Healthy Are Not Necessarily Free From COVID-19 Infection

JAKARTA - The COVID-19 Handling Task Force said that someone who has no symptoms can still transmit the COVID-19 virus.

"This means that people who appear healthy are not necessarily free from COVID-19 infection," said Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Task Force, Wiku Adisasmito, quoted by Antara, Thursday, February 10.

Wiku said, according to a study in China, asymptomatic people can account for about 24 percent of the overall transmission that occurs in the population.

Therefore, Wiku asked the public to remain disciplined in implementing comprehensive health protocols, both for healthy and sick people.

"The most important thing is that there is a tendency to be cautious," he continued.

Wiku said that other strategies that can be taken to tackle the increasingly massive transmission include anticipating the presence of asymptomatic cases by increasing the ratio of close contacts or the number of people identified as suspected cases.

This is because current technology has not been able to measure whether asymptomatic people are more contagious than symptomatic people.

"Testing methods such as PCR which can measure the CT value only measure the amount of virus contained in a person's body, not the amount of virus that can be transmitted from that person to other people," he explained.

The next strategy in preventing transmission is to carry out active surveillance, especially in places with a high risk of transmission, such as hospitals, offices, and schools.

Then, prioritizing the acceleration of vaccination in vulnerable groups such as the elderly, comorbid sufferers, and people who have not been vaccinated at all or at full doses to prevent a high risk of death.