According to the Minister of the National Health Commission of China, Ma Xiaowei, a person with the coronavirus can infect other people before it is revealed that they are sick.
At Sunday's press conference, Ma Xiaowei said the infection could be asymptomatic for up to 14 days.
During this time, the asymptomatic person is also contagious and can spread the coronavirus to others, making it difficult to stop its spread, Ma said.
Coronavirus symptoms include nasal congestion, headache, cough, sore throat, and fever, according to infectious disease expert and professor at the University of California, San Francisco, Charles Chiu.
“The epidemic is currently accelerating,” Ma said at a news conference. “I'm afraid this will continue for some time, and the number of infected may increase.”
The virus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has killed 56 people and infected more than 2,000.
Although Chinese authorities have isolated Wuhan and some other neighboring cities, the virus has spread to at least 12 other countries: Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore, Nepal, France, Australia, Malaysia, Canada and the United States.
There are currently no tests designed to detect this exact strain of coronavirus, as 'coronavirus' belongs to the family of viruses that cause the common cold, Chiu said, and current coronavirus tests that doctors are using cannot detect the Wuhan coronavirus strain.
Those with coronavirus may show mild flu symptoms.
The Wuhan coronavirus is not the only viral infection that is contagious before a person shows symptoms.
According to the UK's National Health Service, chickenpox, the common cold and the flu are contagious several days before a person with the virus develops any symptoms, such as a rash from chickenpox or a fever from the flu.
This article was published by Business Insider.
