There are asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic patients infected with COVID-19. So what? Pandemic response implications

Nelson Aguirre-Duarte

it seems that the lessons learnt from previous pandemics have not been applied, and countries did not adequately assess the risks, and as a result, there has been a lack of resources and response plans adequate to save lives (Anderson, Heesterbeek, Klinkenberg, & Hollingsworth, 2020) . The presence of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic carriers imposed an extra challenge on how to protect the public in general and front-line workers from the infection when an undetected infective person is present. A shortage of medical supplies is not uncommon in public health emergencies. Therefore, national and international medical supplies programmes before emergencies arise need to be strengthened (Wong, Leo, & Tan, 2020) .