Asymptomatic Coronavirus Cases Come into Focus

Even as China boasts of getting the coronavirus outbreak under control, the number of asymptomatic cases has risen, according to health officials where the pandemic began late last year.

The National Health Commission reported Monday that 78 new asymptomatic cases have been recorded in China in the past 24 hours, up from 47 a day earlier.

More than 1,000 asymptomatic cases are still under “medical observation,” the NHC said.

At least one-third of the world is under some type of lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, as governments urge social distancing to stymie the virus' spread.

That's because the COVID-19 virus is insidious.

"There's significant transmission by people not showing symptoms," Stephen Morse, an epidemiologist at Columbia University, told Business Insider.