--- description: Find out why Camilla Rothe is one of the 100 most influential people of 2020. title: Camilla Rothe: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd862fa41dbd1e071/698a124bb21a9cd57c504077/time-100-Camilla-Rothe.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 22, 2020 # Camilla Rothe by Eric Topol  Marienstift retirement home, Munich, Germany, 16.06.2020\. Dr. Rothe is swabbing a study participant during a Covid-19 study in a home for the elderly in Munich. This procedure is not perceived as particularly pleasant since it may hurt and the eyes may tear. To find an alternative for this, the study looks at other methods to test for SARS CoV-2, such as saliva which is easy to collect. NYTCREDIT: Laetitia Vancon for The New York Times Marienstift retirement home, Munich, Germany, 16.06.2020\. Dr. Rothe is swabbing a study participant during a Covid-19 study in a home for the elderly in Munich. This procedure is not perceived as particularly pleasant since it may hurt and the eyes may tear. To find an alternative for this, the study looks at other methods to test for SARS CoV-2, such as saliva which is easy to collect. NYTCREDIT: Laetitia Vancon for The New York TimesLaetitia Vancon—The New York Times/Redux What has been called the Achilles heel of [fighting the pandemic](https://time.com/5800901/coronavirus-map/ "undefined") is that such a large proportion—an estimated 30% to 40%—of people with infections do not have symptoms but are fully capable of [spreading COVID-19](https://time.com/5891210/the-cdc-posted-but-then-suddenly-deleted-critical-guidance-about-how-covid-19-actually-spreads/ "undefined"). Back in January, it was the astute observation of Dr. Camilla Rothe, an infectious-disease specialist in Munich, that led her team to be one of the first to document an [asymptomatic infection](https://time.com/5842669/coronavirus-asymptomatic-transmission/ "undefined"). Her published report of symptomless spreading was first met with disbelief, denial and disparagement, but ultimately was confirmed in dozens of patient cohorts to be absolutely true and now is widely accepted. Her discovery has saved countless lives, and if only we all had listened to Dr. Rothe earlier, more spread could have been prevented. _Topol, M.D., is a professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research and the editor in chief of Medscape_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888186/camilla-rothe/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888186/camilla-rothe/"},"headline":"Camilla Rothe","datePublished":"2020-09-22T21:20:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:17.410Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888186/camilla-rothe/","keywords":["TIME 100","T100 2020","T100 2020 Pioneers"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd862fa41dbd1e071/698a124bb21a9cd57c504077/time-100-Camilla-Rothe.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd862fa41dbd1e071/698a124bb21a9cd57c504077/time-100-Camilla-Rothe.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888186/camilla-rothe/","name":"Camilla Rothe"}}]}] ```