CDC Director Reiterates: Coronavirus Can Be Spread by People Who Aren’t Showing Symptoms

Medical worker in protective suit walks by patients diagnosed with the coronaviruses in a temporary hospital transformed from an exhibition center in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province on Feb. 5, 2020. Chinatopix via AP

The new coronavirus, or COVID-19, can be spread by people who are not exhibiting symptoms, confirmed the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday.

Dr. Robert Redfield, the director, said that asymptomatic transmission of COVID-19 is possible. Several Chinese medical officials have said the virus, which is believed to have sickened tens of thousands, made similar comments over the past several weeks as the virus spreads.