Sixty asymptomatic members at choir practice on March 10: Now 45 have COVID19 and two are dead. Evidence for airborne spread!– LA Times

(photo courtesy of pixabay)

Experts have been saying that the novel coronavirus is spread through close contact and physical touching.  They also have downplayed transmission from asymptomatic individuals.  Now evidence on the ground from Skagit County WA shows that airborne spread can occur from asymptomatic carriers to other individuals.  A report in the Los Angeles Times from last night tells how, with no reported cases in the county, choir practice was assembled with half the normal cohort of singers on March 10.  A few days later, an outbreak of COVID19 has felled two and laid 45 members low.  The rest can be assumed to remain asymptomatic but be carriers of the virus.

These results confirm the indications from multiple scientific studies of the experience in China.  A large proportion of cases have been attributed to asymptomatic or presymptomatic carriage and transmittal of virus from one person to another.

Now, due to a lack of testing, we have no idea who is a carrier and who has already recovered from asymptomatic or trivial symptoms of infection.  If those who have recovered are recruited to the front lines, many of the shortages of protective equipment and personnel could be alleviated.  Already, police in New York who have recovered from the illness are returning to work due to a lack of essential (even more so than medical) personnel.

As usual, data reported above are sourced from multiple news agencies– LA Times, Washington Post, NBC to name a few.  Fox News has been left out of this conversation due to the lack of primary sources and a high level of cant which makes it difficult for realistic people to listen or watch.