A study of Marine recruits found that despite the temperature check, a preventive measure that is implemented in public places and stores could still lead to the spread of the COVID-19.
It was shown to be inadequate to spot the infection, as the virus can be asymptomatic.
From the study, it shows that even with strict quarantines, the recruits still spread the virus even when the symptom screening didn’t catch any of the signs.
Published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the study points out that institutes like colleges and prisons rely on this sort of screening to detect and prevent the virus.
Was all the set up of machines and measures all for naught?
Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, who is a co-chair of President-elect Joe Biden’s coronavirus task force, spoke to “Good Morning America” exclusively on Friday, Nov. 13;
The study, led by the researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York and the Naval Medical Research Center, involved 1,848 Marine recruits being told to isolate themselves for two weeks at home, then had to quarantine again in a with military supervision at a closed college campus, the Citadel in Charleston for another 14 days.
It included them having a single roommate, masks, keeping distance, and training outdoors. The recruits are tested daily for symptoms.
Arriving for military quarantine, 1% were tested positive while only one recruit showed symptoms. Another 2% was then reported to be tested positive after the military quarantine, while only four had symptoms. Those who tested negative were the ones that can continue to basic training on Parris Island.
Through genetic testing, six separate clusters were revealed among the recruits.
“A lot of the infection that occurs, we don’t even realize it is occurring,” said one study leader, Navy Cmdr. Andrew Letizia, a doctor at the Naval Medical Research Center.
Another study leader said that despite the combination of use on good public health measures, temperature checks, mask-wearing, social distancing, hand washing, and comprehensive testing, the virus still spread, concluding that it is highly infectious.
Other studies show that out of 4,779 people on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, 1,271 became infected. 77% of them never showed symptoms when are tested positive while 45% never developed any. Most of the people on board are young.
The case has concluded that young, healthy people can silently spread the infection, Dr. Nelson Michael of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research wrote in a commentary.
Source: ABC 13