Exceptions, the agency noted, might be made for “vulnerable” individuals, or if health care providers or state or local public health officials recommend testing. “Wow, that is a walk-back,” Dr. Butler-Wu said. Notably, experts can’t distinguish asymptomatic people from those who are pre-symptomatic until symptoms do or don’t appear. “It seems backward to just ignore pre-symptomatic patients,” Dr. Butler-Wu said. “Asymptomatic people could be spreading the virus, so widespread testing seems valuable.”Tracking asymptomatic cases is also important from the perspective of the infected, Dr. Kuppalli said.

Source: New York Times August 25, 2020 21:45 UTC