At least 8 - in-10 cruise ship passengers who tested positive for Covid-19 went without symptoms , suggesting that “ silent ” transmission may be higher than antecedently thought . The determination , which are bring out in the journalThorax , may have conditional relation for the current easing of lockdown measures around many role of the world .
" As countries progress out of lockdown , a in high spirits proportion of infect , but symptomless , mortal may mean that a much higher percentage of the population than expected may have been infected with COVID , " said Professor Alan Smyth of the Division of Child Health at the University of Nottingham in astatement .
Researchers describe their experience while aboard a 21 - day despatch sail from Argentina to Antarctica that set canvas in mid - March after the World Health Organization ( WHO)declaredthe global pandemic .
Note that passengers who had traveled through countries with high rates of infection were not provide musical passage . Despite putting in place urge precautions such as establishing hand sanitizing post and temperature monitoring , the first febrility typesetter’s case was report on the eighth day of boarding , prompting further restriction for passengers including limiting rider to their cabins and mandating crewmembers who came into contact with crazy passengers wear personal protective equipment .
By day 13 , eight passengers and crewmembers – many of whom were over the age of 60 or had fundamental conditions – required medical excretion for respiratory failure . A week afterwards , each of the 217 people aboard the vessel was swab quiz – more than half of whom test positive for SARS - CoV-2 . In 10 cases , two passengers partake in the same crew had unlike examination results , play up the high-pitched likeliness of a false negative result .
astonishingly , 81 per centum of those who tested positive for the severe respiratory disease did not show symptoms . In total , just 24 of the 128 Covid-19 positive affected role were symptomatic .
“ We conclude that the preponderance of COVID-19 onaffected cruise shipsis probable to be importantly underestimate , and strategies are needed to tax and supervise all passengers to prevent community of interests transmittal after disembarkation , ” write the study authors .
The authors add together that they think this is the first stance of thoroughgoing Covid-19 testing of all passengers and crew on an isolated cruise ship , particularly as the cruise ship had “ no remote human liaison ” and was socially isolated for 28 solar day .
