Presymptomatic, asymptomatic and post-symptomatic transmission of SARS-CoV-2: joint British Infection Association (BIA), Healthcare Infection Society (HIS), Infection Prevention Society (IPS) and Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath) guidance

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first detected in Wuhan, Hubei province, China; it spread around the world as a pandemic and by November 2021 had affected more than 260 million people [ 1 ]. COVID-19 is caused by a beta-coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2); other beta-coronaviruses associated with respiratory syndromes are severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).