While omicron subvariant BA.5 has revealed itself to be the most contagious and immune-evasive iteration of COVID-19 yet, scientists have known for a long time that many cases of COVID-19, regardless of variant, are completely asymptomatic. But how frequently the average person was unknowingly contracting COVID was not known with great certainty.
Now, a new study reveals the extent to which people may be spreading the omicron strain of COVID-19 without even realizing it. Because omicron infections are frequently asymptomatic, it had long been assumed that individuals infected with omicron may unwittingly transmit the bug simply because they did not realize they have been infected.
