In an NPR.com article, the news agency reports that the World Health Organization is concerned that the world and, in our case, North Texas may be putting people in harm’s way with the idea that once you have caught COVID-19, you are immune. Concern about immunity after reports from a New Jersey hospital and others reporting patients are recovering after being given antibodies from recovered Coronavirus patients.
In light of the conflicting views, it appears that taking precautions to protect yourselves is just as relevant today as it was a month ago. Remember to use your hand washing and social distancing as much as possible while you are out in public.
‘No Evidence’ Yet That Recovered COVID-19 Patients Are Immune, WHO Says
By NPR.com
The World Health Organization has pushed back against the theory that individuals can only catch the coronavirus once, as well as proposals for reopening society that are based on this supposed immunity.
In a scientific brief dated Friday, the United Nations agency said the idea that one-time infection can lead to immunity remains unproven and is thus unreliable as a foundation for the next phase of the world’s response to the pandemic.
“Some governments have suggested that the detection of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, could serve as the basis for an ‘immunity passport’ or ‘risk-free certificate’ that would enable individuals to travel or to return to work assuming that they are protected against re-infection,” the WHO wrote. “There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection.”
N.J. patients who got experimental plasma treatment making ‘remarkable’ recovery, hospital says
By NJ.com
The first two coronavirus patients in New Jersey to receive an experimental plasma treatment are both making “remarkable” recoveries, according to the hospital system treating them.
Virtua Health said both Renee Bannister, a 63-year-old teacher from Gloucester County, and Andy Fei, a 61-year-old opera singer from Mount Laurel, have been taken off of ventilators and moved out of intensive care beds at Virtua Voorhees Hospital.
“We are incredibly excited about these remarkable recoveries,” Dr. Eric Sztejman, a medical director for Virtua Health, said in a release Tuesday. “We performed the transfusions just days after the clinical trial was announced, so it is gratifying to be among the first in nation to explore this promising approach to combating the coronavirus.”
