Analysis of Japanese coronavirus cases highlights risk of asymptomatic transmission

(Image credit: TAMI CHAPPELL/AFP via Getty Images)

last updated 14 June 2020

An analysis of 3,184 coronavirus cases in Japan released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday highlights the risk young, seemingly healthy people can still pose during the pandemic.

In the study, most of the "primary case-patients" — people who began a chain of transmission — were between the ages of 20 and 39 and either not yet showing symptoms or asymptomatic at the point of transmission.

As is often the case when it comes to research about the novel coronavirus, the analysis is not definitive — looking at 61 infection clusters isn't enough to make any sweeping statement. But the data does seem to bolster the hypothesis that asymptomatic transmission — which has been the source of much confusion throughout the pandemic, even for the World Health Organization — is a threat, as initially thought. Read more here.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.