COVID-19 may have longer incubation period lasting up to 8 days: Study

The incubation period of the novel coronavirus could be as long as eight days, which is longer than previously estimated time of four to five days, says a new study. This new study has used the largest amount of patient samples to come down to an analysis. It has been published in the journal Science Advances. 

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Study on incubation of the novel coronavirus 

This study identified pre-symptomatic individuals at their time of departure from Wuhan and then followed these infected people until their symptoms developed. According to the scientist Chong You from Peking University in China, the earlier study which suggested that the incubation period was for four to five days was based on small samples sizes, limited data, and self-reports that could be biased due to the judgement of the patient or interviewer. However, the current study is based on a low cost approach in order to estimate incubation periods. The new study applied it to 1,084 confirmed cases of COVID-19 that had known histories of travel and residency in Wuhan.

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Reports suggest that the new method has better accuracy as it completely relies on a public database of dates of infection. It also uses statistical methods to reduce recall bias which is the inaccurate recollection during the previous study. It was through the new approach that the researchers calculated that the average incubation period was 7.75 days. Out of which 10 percent of patients showed an incubation period of 14.28 day. According to reports, the scientists cautioned that their approach relies on several assumptions and may not apply to later cases in different parts of the globe.

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(Image Credits: AP)