Summary: What is known about this topic?
Patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection can be categorized by severity: asymptomatic infection, mild illness, moderate illness, severe illness, and critical illness. The rate of transmission to a specific group of contacts (the secondary attack rate) may be 3-25 times lower from people who are asymptomatically infected than from those with symptoms. The incubation period is 2-14 days.
What is added by this report?
An individual with asymptomatic infection shed live virus that started a 42-case outbreak in Shunyi District of Beijing in December 2020. The individual had been quarantined for 14 days in a designated quarantine hotel in Fuzhou after entering China from Indonesia. During quarantine, he had 5 negative throat swab tests and 2 negative IgM serum tests. The investigation team determined that the incubation periods of 31 confirmed cases ranged from 2 to 23 days.
What are the implications for public health practice?
The frequency of nucleic acid testing should be increased for international entrants and people who are close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases. The investigation team recommend expanding sample types for nucleic acid testing to include anal swabs and residential environmental sampling; serum antibody testing can be used as a reference indicator. Parallel testing by two institutions at key points in time, such as the end of isolation, should be implemented.
Copyright and License information: Editorial Office of CCDCW, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention 2021.