The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that people who have been in contact with a case of Covid-19 should be tested whether or not they show symptoms.
• Read also: Secondary 1 students evacuated after COVID-19 case
• Read also: 14 days at home despite a negative test?
• Read also: Preventive screening after a case of COVID-19 at Miller Zoo
This recommendation was made by WHO experts, interviewed at a press conference on the situation in the United States where health authorities have now considered that tests were no longer deemed necessary for asymptomatic people.
Responding to questions from journalists on this subject, Maria Van Kerkhove, in charge of the technical direction of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic at the WHO, did not comment on the situation in the United States, but indicated that the UN specialist agency recommended that “contacts, if possible, be tested, regardless of the development of symptoms.”
“We know that people who have symptoms transmit (the virus), and we know that people who do not have symptoms can also transmit the virus,” she said.
She stressed the importance of these tests, which should be “used as an opportunity to find active cases so that they can be isolated and contact tracing can also take place.”
The change in US guidelines was quietly made Monday on the website of the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), while media reported interference in this direction from the White House.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly felt that his country should screen less, arguing that the tests gave a bad image of the handling of the coronavirus pandemic by the United States.
But if the United States does indeed test a lot, their figures are very high because the disease is wreaking more havoc than elsewhere, with more than 5.8 million confirmed cases and almost 180,000 deaths.
– .
