In Report Affirming Nearly No Transmission In Schools, CDC Slips In Shocking Data About Asymptomatic Spread

The Jan. 29 report's conclusion seems to fit the pro-mask narrative, of course: "Schools might be able to safely open with appropriate mitigation efforts in place." In the 17 rural Wisconsin schools surveyed, only seven cases were linked to in-school transmission out of 4,876 pupils, and no staff members were infected at school during the study period.

While the report spends ample time explaining the mitigation strategies employed in the schools and the high reported mask compliance among students, the authors later discuss something you probably have not seen in any of the mainstream media's coverage of this report: "Children might be more likely to be asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 than are adultsThis apparent lack of transmission [in schools] is consistent with recent research, which found an asymptomatic attack rate of only 0.7% within households and a lower rate of transmission from children than from adults. However, this study was unable to rule out asymptomatic transmission within the school setting because surveillance testing was not conducted".

The text of the analysis is even more consequential than the CDC's reference makes it seem: "Estimated mean household secondary attack rate from symptomatic index cases was significantly higher than from asymptomatic or presymptomatic index cases, although there were few studies in the latter group. These findings are consistent with other household studies28,70 reporting asymptomatic index cases as having limited role in household transmission".

The 0.7 percent figure might even be a modest estimate of overall asymptomatic/presymptomatic transmission because the studies were among household contacts only-people who have close and extended contact with one another daily.

The CDC's Pandemic Planning Scenario "Best estimates" for COVID-19 transmission still have transmission "Occurring prior to symptom onset" pegged at 50 percent, however.

The CDC's previously quoted statements, that children may be more likely to be asymptomatic carriers and that this squares with a 0.7 percent asymptomatic attack rate, undercut lockdown proponents's assumption that a high percentage of asymptomatic cases must mean a high percentage of asymptomatic spread. The CDC seems to admit here that the opposite may be true: that if kids really are more likely to be asymptomatic, then transmission and proportion of asymptomatic cases may actually be inversely correlated, as asymptomatic people just don't get many people sick.

As emergency medicine physician and associate professor at Brown University Megan Ranney said recently on STAT News' podcast, "We know from our scientific research that myths and untruths, even if debunked, are likely to be remembered," noting that "There may be statements that we need to take back sometimes." Is the CDC's belief that COVID-19 transmission from people who don't show symptoms is a major driver of the virus' spread just that kind of statement? It's time solid data from real-world transmission studies, not models, be used to support the basis for the onerous restrictions put on Americans over the past 11 months and continued to this day.

https://thefederalist.com/2021/02/24/in-report-affirming-nearly-no-transmission-in-schools-cdc-slips-in-shocking-data-about-asymptomatic-spread/