There were 181 confirmed cases with identifiable exposure and symptom onset windows to estimate the incubation period of COVID-19. The median incubation period was estimated to be 5.1 days, and 97.5% of those who develop symptoms will do so within 11.5 days of infection. These estimates imply that, under conservative assumptions, 1% (1 in 100) of infected cases will develop symptoms after 14 days of active monitoring or quarantine.
Annals of Internal Medicine
March 2020
