Many people carry the COVID-19 infection asymptomatically or very easily, thinking they have a common cold or are just tired.

As a result, many cases of COVID-19 remain unreported and do not fall into official statistics, which significantly distorts the real picture of the incidence.

According to Medportal.ru, in the first months of the pandemic, scientists assumed that the proportion of asymptomatic cases of coronavirus infection could reach 80%, but later this figure dropped to 50%. Now, studies show that the number of asymptomatic infected people is from 17 to 20%. More than half of people initially thought to be asymptomatic by doctors do develop symptoms over time.

In a new study, American scientists decided to compare the number of asymptomatic cases with the official incidence statistics. They analyzed data from nearly 62,000 Americans who applied for life insurance. Participants provided blood samples and various health data. At the time of filing the application, they all reported that they did not have a coronavirus infection.

However, lab testing has identified neutralizing antibodies to SARS-Cov-2 in over 4,000 participants. This means that they suffered from the infection asymptomatically, or their symptoms were so mild that they were not noticed or were attributed to other conditions.