Is it? I read the original comment as saying there were significantly different symptoms based on the transmission method. Even assuming that the transmission m

Is it? I read the original comment as saying there were significantly different symptoms based on the transmission method. Even assuming that the transmission method results in a significantly different viral load, that's not enough to explain differing symptoms since there's not a whole lot of observable difference between cases with different severities[1,2]. There are some studies that show a relationship, but nothing strong enough to explain a dramatic difference. If it's true that the transmission method makes a big difference, it's more likely due to some other reason. E.g. maybe mild strains spread more easily in the air (although as far as I know there's no evidence that's true.) [1] https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/2003/2003.09320.pdf https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/2003/2003.09320.pdf Page 3. "We did not observe significantly different viral loads in nasal swabs between symptomatic and asymptomatic." [2] https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.15.20036707v2.full.pdf https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.15.20036707v... Page 4. "There was no obvious difference in viral loads across sex, age groups and disease severity"