People were both confused and in disbelief when Maria Van Kerkhove, a WHO epidemiologist and technical lead on the pandemic, said that the transmission of COVID-19 among asymptomatic patients is “very rare.” Many wondered why the hell we’ve all been on lockdown for the past few months if that were the case.

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Earlier today, the World Health Organization officially backtracked on the comments, saying that estimates reveal that nearly half of all transmission might be because of those who don’t exhibit any symptoms.

“Some estimates of around 40 percent of transmission may be due to asymptomatic [cases], but those are from models. So I didn’t include that in my answer yesterday but wanted to make sure that I made that clear,” Dr. Van Kerkhove said before adding her initial comments were “a misunderstanding.”

“I wasn’t stating a policy of WHO or anything like that,” she continued. “We do know that some people who are asymptomatic, or some people who do not have symptoms, can transmit the virus on.”

Mike Ryan, head of emergency programs for the WHO, said there was no “intent of WHO to say there is a new or different policy,” adding, “There is still too much unknown about this virus and still too much unknown about its transmission dynamics.”

Ryan did add those infected are the most contagious when their symptoms are visibly bad. ““Now as we look at COVID-19, we have an infectious pathogen that is present in the upper airway for which the viral loads are peaking at the time you are just beginning to get sick,” Ryan said. 

The coronavirus pandemic is still going on but perhaps, it might not be as contagious as initially expected. The past two months have been filled with reminders to wash your hands for 30 seconds and wearing facemasks in public, even those who aren’t showing any symptoms. Asymptomatic patients were truly among the most concerning group among those who tested positive. 

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Per CNBC, the World Health Organization have found those infected with coronavirus but don’t show any symptoms aren’t the ones spreading the disease at a rapid pace. This clashes with studies from other researchers who thought the disease would be hard to contain because of asymptomatic patients. Though it’s not impossible that those without symptoms could transmit COVID-19, certain people, specifically young, healthy individuals, show little to no symptoms.

“From the data we have, it still seems to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual,” the head of WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove said. Though she said this isn’t conclusive, it does look promising.

“We have a number of reports from countries who are doing very detailed contact tracing,” she said. “They’re following asymptomatic cases. They’re following contacts. And they’re not finding secondary transmission onward. It’s very rare.”

The CDC previously established that asymptomatic patients were one of the biggest reasons for social distancing measures. That might change things moving forward but for the time being, Van Kerkhove said that they’re still monitoring the transmission among asymptomatic and presymptomatic people. 

Donald Trump plans on putting a halt to funding to the World Health Organization (WHO).

“I am directing my administration to halt funding while a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus,” Trump told a news conference at the White House on Tuesday.

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According to BBC, Trump accused the UN of covering up and mishandling the spread of the virus after it emerged in China. The UN’s chief responded that this was not the time to cut funds to WHO.

Bill Gates weighed in on Trump’s decision on Twitter, criticizing the decision. “Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds,” he wrote. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provides the second largest amount of funds for the WHO.

Trump believes that the the outbreak could have been contained if WHO had done their job properly, and allowed medical experts to assess the situation in China as it was unfolding. Trump told reporters, 

“Had the WHO done its job to get medical experts into China to objectively assess the situation on the ground and to call out China’s lack of transparency, the outbreak could have been contained at its source with very little death,” he told reporters. “This would have saved thousands of lives and avoided worldwide economic damage. Instead, the WHO willingly took China’s assurances to face value… and defended the actions of the Chinese government.”

WHO experts were reportedly only allowed to visit China once, February 10, to investigate and by that time the country had more than 40,000 cases. 

On January 14, WHO tweeted that Chinese investigations found “no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission” of the new virus. A week after that tweet, WHO released a public statement that human-to-human transmission did appear to be taking place in Wuhan. Administrative officials have been aggressively accusing WHO did not take the proper steps in handling this pandemic, stating WHO was biased towards China. 

Despite the WHO’s potential malfunctions in the early days of the pandemic, public health experts feel defunding the organization in the middle of a pandemic is far from a smart move.

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The coronavirus mania is here, and we’re waist-deep in it. The COVID-19 virus has been officially classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, but even before the official title, people were beginning to panic. The shelves of markets are vacant as people have begun hoarding items, especially toilet paper and hand sanitizer. 

Travel bans have been issued, contact with other people is being avoided, millions are self-containing themselves to avoid contracting the virus, businesses are sending their employees home, sports leagues have suspended games, schools have halted their class schedules, live shows have been canceled, and apparently, people are spending big bucks on doomsday shelters. TMZ reports that companies who make and create bunkers have told the publication that business has been better than ever in the last month.

Rising S reportedly makes shelters that can cost you anywhere from $50K to one million dollars, and they’ve been inundated with new inquiries and orders. They also “can supply, at an extra cost, non-perishable food and medical supplies. And, for those who plunk down a pretty penny, there are free perks — customers will get a 5-gallon hand sanitizer (made by Rising S), masks, rubber gloves and bleach.”

Two weeks ago, someone in Japan is said to have recently purchased 1,000 air filtration systems from them for $3 million. Another company, Vivos Underground Survival Shelters, told TMZ that their profits have increased mainly from people leasing new bunkers for upwards of six months. When the panic dissipates, it might be difficult to sell off your coronavirus shelter.

The coronavirus mania is here, and we’re waist-deep in it. The COVID-19 virus has been officially classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, but even before the official title, people were beginning to panic. The shelves of markets are vacant as people have begun hoarding items, especially toilet paper and hand sanitizer. 

Travel bans have been issued, contact with other people is being avoided, millions are self-containing themselves to avoid contracting the virus, businesses are sending their employees home, sports leagues have suspended games, schools have halted their class schedules, live shows have been canceled, and apparently, people are spending big bucks on doomsday shelters. TMZ reports that companies who make and create bunkers have told the publication that business has been better than ever in the last month.

Rising S reportedly makes shelters that can cost you anywhere from $50K to one million dollars, and they’ve been inundated with new inquiries and orders. They also “can supply, at an extra cost, non-perishable food and medical supplies. And, for those who plunk down a pretty penny, there are free perks — customers will get a 5-gallon hand sanitizer (made by Rising S), masks, rubber gloves and bleach.”

Two weeks ago, someone in Japan is said to have recently purchased 1,000 air filtration systems from them for $3 million. Another company, Vivos Underground Survival Shelters, told TMZ that their profits have increased mainly from people leasing new bunkers for upwards of six months. When the panic dissipates, it might be difficult to sell off your coronavirus shelter.

News updates about the coronavirus are unavoidable. As the world takes precautions to contain the pandemic as much as possible, President Donald Trump has been criticized for not making moves to protect American citizens. On Wednesday (March 11), Trump answered his naysayers by addressing the world from the White House’s Oval Office in a video public service announcement.

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According to PEOPLE, there are just over 1,000 reported cases of coronavirus in the United States. It’s reported that 54,000 people have recovered from the illness while 4,000 have died. In his statement, Trump said that the World Health Organization has officially declared coronavirus to be a pandemic.

“After consulting with our top government health professionals, I have decided to take several strong but necessary actions to protect the health and well-being of all Americans,” Trump said. “To keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days. The new rules will go into effect Friday (March 13) at midnight.”

“These restrictions will be adjusted subject to conditions on the ground,” the President added. “There will be exemptions for Americans who have undergone appropriate screenings.” Restrictions will also be placed on any cargo or items making their way from Europe, not including the United Kingdom.

He clarified that for the “vast majority of Americans the risk is very low” and “young and healthy people can expect to recover quickly if they should get the virus.” People with the highest risk is for the elderly with health issues. Watch Donald Trump give his announcement below.

The coronavirus epidemic has the world shook right now. Although people have claimed that it's being overblown by the media, it's now a problem globally, BBC reports. The World Health Organization has declared the disease a global emergency. While a large portion of the diseases and deaths related to coronavirus has been in China, predominantly Hubei, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the announcement isn't just on what's happening in China but the possibilities of it spreading across the world.

"The main reason for this declaration is not what is happening in China but what is happening in other countries," Ghebreyesus said. His concern is that as more documented cases of coronavirus spreading to other countries, they don't want it to spread to countries with weaker health care systems. So far, there are 98 cases in eighteen countries, although all of the deaths that occurred have happened in China. "Let me be clear, this declaration is not a vote of no confidence in China," Tedros said.

Tedros praised the Chinese government for the preventative measures they're taking while also denying that there's any reason to stop trade transactions or travel to China.

Major companies like Google and Tesla have shut down shops in China in wake of the disease. Wilbur Ross, The US Commerce Secretary, is looking at the bright side of this bleak outbreak, saying, it could "accelerate the return of jobs to North America."