How CNN Deceives about Asymptomatic Transmission of SARS-CoV-2

Introduction

“A growing number of studies show face masks reduce the spread of the coronavirus,” CNN reported on June 17, “especially because many people are contagious before they have symptoms and because this virus can spread by just talking or breathing.”[1]

This is an enlightening example of how the media are misinforming the public about what science tells us about the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The message being communicated to the public is that a major driver of community spread is people who have no symptoms but infect others through airborne transmission. This narrative has been used to justify and manufacture consent for extreme lockdown measures, including executive orders for universal mask use in community settings.

The truth is that it remains uncertain whether asymptomatic carriers are a significant source of community spread, and it remains uncertain whether virus-laden aerosols are a significant mode of transmission. Instructively, this truth is revealed simply by examining the primary sources cited by CNN to support the narrative.

Is the WHO Wrong about Asymptomatic Transmission?

In this case, CNN cites two prior CNN articles. The first was an article on June 10 titled “Fauci says the WHO’s comment on asymptomatic spread is wrong. Here’s the difference between asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic spread”.[2]

The second was a CNN article from April 4 titled “Experts tell White House coronavirus can spread through talking or even just breathing”.[3]

We’ll come back to that second article, but let’s start with the first. It discusses a statement by an official from the World Health Organization (WHO) who said that, from the data available, asymptomatic transmission “appears to be rare”.[4]

CNN does not clarify, but the transcript of the WHO press briefing shows that the official, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, was referring to people who are “truly asymptomatic”, meaning that they never developed any symptoms, as opposed to people who had mild symptoms or “presymptomatic” individuals who later did develop symptoms. Cases with documented transmission from truly asymptomatic individuals, she stated, are “very rare”.[5]

This is a curious omission since the article begins with an explanation of the difference between “asymptomatic” and “presymptomatic” and then goes on to cast doubt on Van Kerkhove’s statement by discussing viral transmission by both asymptomatic and presymptomatic individuals—as though she had not distinguished between the two.

First, CNN asserts that Van Kerkhove’s statement prompted “widespread confusion” because “doctors and scientists have been saying the opposite for months.”

Next, CNN tries to cast doubt on her statement by citing Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

CNN paraphrases Fauci as saying that 25 percent to 45 percent of people may not have symptoms. “And we know from epidemiological studies they can transmit to someone who is uninfected even when they’re without symptoms,” he is then quoted as saying. “So to make a statement that’s a rare event was not correct.”

But what CNN fails to point out for readers is that Fauci’s reasoning here is a non sequitur fallacy. His conclusion that asymptomatic transmission is common does not follow from the premise that it can occur. The question remains as to what extent asymptomatic individuals contribute to community transmission.

Ironically, CNN then goes on to reinforce the WHO official’s statement by citing Babak Javid, a researcher from Tsinghua University School of Medicine in Beijing, China. “Detailed contact tracing from Taiwan as well as the first European transmission chain in Germany suggested that true asymptomatics rarely transmit,” CNN quotes Javid as saying.

Javid goes on to say that studies have found that people with “extremely mild symptoms” can transmit the virus, and that “transmission often appeared to occur before or on the day symptoms first appeared.” He says this was shown “in particular” by a study documenting “the first European transmission chain in Germany”.

CNN does not link to or provide any other information about the studies Javid was referencing. Presumably, though, he was referring to an early paper by German researchers that has been widely cited to support claims of asymptomatic transmission, which we’ll come to.

Under the subheading, “How many people get infected by someone without symptoms?”, CNN goes on to say, “The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 40% of coronavirus transmission happens before people feel sick.

“In one study, about 4 in 5 people with confirmed coronavirus in China were likely infected by people who didn't know they had it, according to research published in the journal ‘Science.’”

Further, CNN cites experts from Harvard Medical School who wrote that, “We know that a person with COVID-19 may be contagious 48 to 72 hours before starting to experience symptoms. Emerging research suggests that people may actually be most likely to spread the virus to others during the 48 hours before they start to experience symptoms.”

Finally, the article quotes CNN’s own Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta saying, “People tend to be the most contagious before they develop symptoms, if they’re going to develop symptoms”.[6]

Whatever source Gupta may have been relying on for his statement is not specified. He may have been referring to the Harvard article, but that article, too, provides no references.[7]