PharmD Info

As per WHO report what is the incubation period of coronavirus? Why there are changes in incubation periods of COVID-19?

COVID -19 usually appear around 5 days on average , but the incubation period may be as short as 2 days to as long as 14 days

2-14 days represents the current official estimated range for the novel coronavirus COVID-19. However, a case with an incubation period of 27 days has been reported by Hubei Province local government on Feb. 22

In addition, a case with an incubation period of 19 days was observed in a JAMA study of 5 cases published on Feb. 21.

An outlier of a 24 days incubation period had been for the first time observed in a Feb. 9 study.

WHO said at the time that this could actually reflect a second exposure rather than a long incubation period, and that it wasn't going to change its recommendations. Period can vary greatly among patients.

Mean incubation period observed:

3.0 days (0 - 24 days range, study based on 1,324 cases)
5.2 days (4.1 - 7.0 days range, based on 425 cases).
Mean incubation period observed in travelers from Wuhan:
6.4 days (range from 2.1 to 11.1 days).