New Study Indicates Coronavirus Spreads Easily Even When Symptoms Are Mild

The viral load of the novel coronavirus was very high at early presentation of symptoms for most patients, a new study has found, indicating that the virus could easily spread even when symptoms were mild.

The study, published this week, reveals that patients’ salivary viral load was at its highest during the first week after the onset of symptoms and subsequently declined over time, according to the scientists behind the study, which was conducted by a team led by Kwok-Yung Yuen from the Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infection Control of the University of Hong Kong–Shenzhen Hospital.