The Guardian reports:

People infected with coronavirus are symptom-free for an average of five days, according to a study that reinforces the need for strict quarantine measures.

The analysis found that 5.1 days was the median length of time before people started showing signs of illness, although there was a wide range of incubation periods, with a tiny minority of people taking up to two weeks.

Justin Lessler, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and senior author of the report, said: “Based on our analysis of publicly available data, the current recommendation of 14 days for active monitoring or quarantine is reasonable, although with that period some cases would be missed over the long term.”

The findings did not reveal the extent to which people can transmit the illness during this symptom-free period, but preliminary evidence suggests there is at least a short window before people start feeling ill when they can pass on the virus to others. [Continue reading…]