China began publishing the number of asymptomatic cases on Wednesday.
April 1, 2020, 8:45 AM
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A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has claimed the lives of more than 42,000 people around the world, including over 4,000 in the United States.
The new respiratory virus, which causes an illness known officially as COVID-19, was first detected in China back in December. There are now more than 860,000 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 across 180 countries and regions, spanning every continent except Antartica. Over 178,000 of those patients have recovered from the disease, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
With more than 189,000 diagnosed cases of COVID-19, the United States has by far the highest national tally in the world. At least 4,081 people have died from the disease in the United States, eclipsing China's death toll.
Still, Italy and Spain have the highest nationwide death tolls, accounting for half of all the world's fatalities from the virus, with a collective total of nearly 21,000.
Today's biggest developments:
US death toll tops 4,000Tune into ABC at 1 p.m. ET and ABC News Live at 4 p.m. ET every weekday for special coverage of the novel coronavirus with the full ABC News team, including the latest news, context and analysis.
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3:30 a.m.: China reports 1,541 asymptomatic cases under observation
There are at least 1,541 people with asymptomatic infections of the novel coronavirus under medical observation in China, including 205 people from overseas, according to the Chinese National Health Commission.
China began publishing the number of asymptomatic cases on Wednesday. The infected individuals, who show no symptoms but are still believed to be contagious, were excluded from the official tally of confirmed cases.
"Monitoring data has shown that some asymptomatic people have caused second-generation transmission among their close contacts, and they have set off a small number of clusters of infections," Chang Jile, head of the National Health Commission's disease control bureau, said on Tuesday, as quoted by state-run newspaper China Daily.
Those with asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 as well as their close contacts will be quarantined in centralized facilities for 14 days. The asymptomatic individuals won't be released until they test negative for the virus twice, according to Chang.
Quarantined returnees queue up for a COVID-19 test at a quarantine hotel in the city of Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on March 31, 2020.
Quarantined returnees queue up for a COVID-19 test at a quarantine hotel in the city of Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on March 31, 2020.Ng Han Guan/AP
More research is needed to understand the length of the contagion period of asymptomatic individuals as well as the strength and pathway of their transmission, according to China's National Health Commission.
"Some experts believed that because asymptomatic people show no symptoms of coughing or sneezing, the chance of them spreading the virus is relatively small compared to confirmed patients," the commission said in a statement Tuesday, noting how difficult it is to detect these cases and prevent them from spreading. "It is infeasible to make the discovery and isolation of asymptomatic cases as the dominating virus-control measure, so we will continue to focus on confirmed cases and their close contacts."
Since the first cases emerged in the city of Wuhan in China's central Hubei province back in December, the country has reported 81,554 confirmed cases of COVID-19 nationwide, as of Tuesday. It's unclear whether that figure includes asymptomatic cases.
A total of 76,238 patients have recovered from the disease and have been released from hospitals, while another 3,312 patients have died. Seven new deaths were reported Tuesday, all but one in Hubei province, according to the National Health Commission.
What to know about the novel coronavirus: How it started and how to protect yourself: coronavirus explained What to do if you have symptoms: coronavirus symptomsTracking the spread in the US and worldwide: coronavirus map
