We just don't know https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/healt...e-to-be-infected-with-covid-19-more-than-once
OOOOPS, posted this & just realised everyone was chilling, apologies for bringing this up now. IGNOR, IGNOR, save it til tomorrow
There's a lot that we just don't know about this virus which makes our lack of preparation all the more alarming.
I was at Leeds Uni 82-85. Two of my class a UK guy and a Hong Kong girl married. They have 2 girls both being educated at UK Unis. One of his girls caught Covid 19 at her UK Uni. He has been sending me updates on her condition. Here is a few. Dear Friends, please circulate this message around your friends, especially if they have YOUNG OR TEENAGE CHILDREN WHO ARE GETTING FRUSTRATED BY THE LOCKDOWN or ISOLATION. This is the reality with my daughter. Over 3 weeks ago my daughter Sarah (she is 19, fit & healthy) was admitted to the Eastern Hospital in Hong Kong with Covid-19. She has had all the symptoms: fever, cough, pneumonia, massive phlegm, really bad diarrhea, loss of taste and smell. Last weekend we thought the worst was over, and were hopeful that she would be discharged soon. Then the complications started: chest pains on Wednesday, swollen salivary glands and intense jaw pain on Thursday night which reduced her to tears. Now these are her latest words : Thursday .... "I got given panadol twice during the night. They just injected me with antibiotics for the fever. Will take another panadol in an hour. Fever was 40C+ last night. Hopefully, that killed off the last of corona". Friday .... "They also just did a nose swab for me and two throat swabs. I think one they will test for corona and one for mumps". Saturday .... "I’ve really done it all today. Antibiotics IV drip, urine test, blood test, nose and throat swab, x-ray, oral drugs, Special mouthwash solution". She still has a high temperature 40+ and has been moved to a single room isolation ward in the HKG Eastern Hospital. THIS IS NOT "JUST FLU". UPDATE ON SARAH: Last week was a bit of a downer when she caught Mumps having just shaken off the COVID-19 symptoms. Now the Mumps fever is over and she is in good spirits. Tomorrow will be a month in hospital. Still no discharge date is being discussed, but maybe next week. The Eastern Hospital staff in Hong Kong have done a Great job looking after her! SARAH'S INCARCERATION : So it now appears there is another dimension to this. There is it seems at present no local transmission of COVID-19 in Hong Kong, and the government is keen to keep it that way. There are many "imported cases" like Sarah. The government approved criteria for discharge from hospital is a negative result on a qPCR test. That test shows whether you are shedding virus or virus RNA, but not whether that virus is active i.e. it cannot distinguish whether a patient is contagious or not. So she and many other young people are stuck in hospital for the time being, many for a month or more, even though she no longer has any symptoms. Because there is no pressure for beds in Hong Kong, there is no pressure for patient discharge either. There is maybe a test available at the Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong that distinguishes between active and inactive virus, but that's not done at the Eastern Hospital. Sarah ended her message "FFS", which sums things up .
So in a nutshell all those showing mild symptoms that returned to work without being tested after the guideline 7 days could be infecting people.
To reply to the OP, there are a number of assumptions that scientists and governments are working on. Many of these are for optimism/morale reasons: 1). There is no guarantee that recovery confers immunity 2). There is no guarantee how long that immunity lasts 3). There is no guarantee that a vaccine can be produced (IIRC there might be a vaccine for an animal coronavirus but not a human one) 4). There is no guarantee that those recovering will not get further symptoms in the future - like Chicken Pox can cause Shingles years later. But, on the good news front it appears that a number of doctors around the world are having some success with the use of anti-coagulants to treat patients. Although they would ideally need treatment to start not long after symptoms develop.
