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CDC States COVID-19 Immunity May Last 3 Months For Recovered Patients
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated part of its COVID-19 (Coronavirus, 2019) guidelines regarding proper quarantine precautions.
Per the CDC website:
At this time, we do not know if someone can be re-infected with COVID-19. Data to date show that a person who has had and recovered from COVID-19 may have low levels of virus in their bodies for up to 3 months after diagnosis. This means that if the person who has recovered from COVID-19 is retested within 3 months of initial infection, they may continue to have a positive test result, even though they are not spreading COVID-19.
There are no confirmed reports to date of a person being reinfected with COVID-19 within 3 months of initial infection. However, additional research is ongoing. Therefore, if a person who has recovered from COVID-19 has new symptoms of COVID-19, the person may need an evaluation for reinfection, especially if the person has had close contact with someone infected with COVID-19. The person should isolate and contact a healthcare provider to be evaluated for other causes of their symptoms, and possibly retested.
Until we know more, CDC recommends that all people, whether or not they have had COVID-19, continue to take safety measures to avoid becoming infected with COVID-19 (wash hands regularly, stay at least 6 feet away from others whenever possible, and wear masks).
The CDC would go on to detail that those needing to quarantine fall under the following categories:
- You were within 6 feet of someone who has COVID-19 for a total of 15 minutes or more
- You provided care at home to someone who is sick with COVID-19
- You had direct physical contact with the person (hugged or kissed them)
- You shared eating or drinking utensils
- They sneezed, coughed, or somehow got respiratory droplets on you
The CDC update comes the week from the joint World Health Organization (WHO)/The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released a memo to journalists concerning the struggle schools have with reopening in the face of COVID-19. “The latest data from the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) reveal that 43 percent of schools around the world lacked access to basic handwashing with soap and water in 2019 – a key condition for schools to be able to operate safely in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The memo would continue, “According to the report, around 818 million children lack basic handwashing facilities at their schools, which puts them at increased risk of COVID-19 and other transmittable diseases. More than one-third of these children (295 million) are from sub-Saharan Africa. In the least developed countries, 7 out of 10 schools lack basic handwashing facilities and half of schools lack basic sanitation and water services.”
Despite several citizens in several countries believing the pandemic has come to an end, schools becoming a breeding ground for COVID-19 numbers could see a significant rise — leading to the second wave of outbreak.
A Georgia student in the United States was recently suspended before public outcry led to a reversal of the decision. The student took pictures of crowded hallways, showing a lack of social distancing and mask protocols.