Studies that Misled the World

Transmission from an asymptomatic contact in Germany.

On 30 January 2020, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published correspondence on the first four people in Germany infected with a novel coronavirus.

Patient 1 was a 33-year-old otherwise healthy German businessman who became ill with a sore throat, chills, and myalgia on January 24.

Before the onset of symptoms, he attended meetings with a Chinese business partner who had visited Germany between January 19 and 22. It was reported that ‘during her stay, she had been well with no signs or symptoms of infection but had become ill on her flight back to China, where she tested positive for 2019-nCoV on January 26.’

nCoV was the provisional name of what later became CoV-2, n standing for “novel”.

The news went viral as the first clear-cut evidence of asymptomatic transmission. "There's no doubt after reading the paper that asymptomatic transmission is occurring," said Anthony Fauci.

The authors concluded that ‘asymptomatic persons are potential sources of 2019-nCoV infection may warran…