Epidemiologist: You can have covid19, show no symptoms, recover

Dr Naresh Nandram, principal medical officer, epidemiology, says it is possible to have covid19, never show symptoms and recover.

He was responding to questions at the Health Ministry’s daily press conference on Monday morning.

Asked if this could be a possible reason for the recent upsurge in cases, he said, “The short answer is yes…The challenge with that is that if someone doesn’t have any symptoms, they assume they’re completely well. And even though they have covid19 and are capable of transmitting that disease, they simply don’t have any symptoms, and they go about their life as normal.”

He said it is for this reason, one must behave as if everyone they come into contact with has the virus.

He also said: “On the first day, the very, very first day that you find that you have any symptoms at all – no matter how minor – please, please, stay at home. Do not go to school, do not go to work. Call our hotline and get tested.”