Question about coronavirus case.

[progressive nobody]

This might sound stupid but my husband and I have been watching the case count and he asked me when they say cases they are counting people once. I said no that if a person gets the virus and recovers then gets it again that is 2 cases. He thinks that is double counting. His view is that are people really getting over the virus or has it become dorminate.

I am beginning to wonder/doubt myself.

[LisaL]

1. Very few people so far recovered and got it again.

So it's not an issue I worry about.

[brewens]

11. So far. We'll know if they get long term immunity when we know it. They probably do, and I

hope it lifelong. I'm not worrying about that yet. I'm thinking it's a one shot deal for me, even though at 59 I'm in pretty good shape. I don't want to find that out.

[Ms. Toad]

2. Hadn't heard that question before.

I would guess it depends on whether they fully recovered, tested negative, and had a period with no symptoms (there have been some of those), or whether it was one long continuous illness.

The former (uncommon circumstances) should be two cases. The latter should be one.

[captain queeg]

3. I don't trust some of the statistics. Are they counting people who were diagnosed

Or only ones who’ve tested positive. I think we all know someone who has had the symptoms and been told by the doctor they have it, but tested negative.

[progressive nobody]

6. The are counting confirm cases.

Last time I talked to my friend who research this they are counting confirm cases she is also concern the count is an undercount. Test aren't as accurate as WHO's test. She also think some mild cases aren't being counted. I have asked this question before she just hasn't gotten back to me.

[Hoyt]

4. Doubt it makes a lot of difference. Truthfully, I haven't paid much attention to case

count in months because of reporting, changing testing rates, false negatives, etc. We know the actual infection rate is multiple times confirmed cases.

I’m most concerned about hospitalizations and deaths. It’s a better measure of impact.

[progressive nobody]

7. I see what you are saying with that.

[hlthe2b]

5. Many people are tested multiple times. They are only counted as a case once based on a positive

test. And while individuals have been shown to remain infected and thus remain positive on subsequent tests for a prolonged period of time, true reinfection remains a rare phenomenon that is considered a single prolonged infection in the absence of a lot of direct investigation, including immunological testing (antibodies and T-cell response). So, to the extent that is occurring it would be so rare as not to influence infection (case) numbers.



Where the same person being tested multiple times could come into play is statistics on the number of tests performed and by extension the %positivity. States that want to fudge their results (cough, cough) could theoretically use the uncorrected total tests completed as the denominator rather than subtracting out serial tests on the same person, thereby falsely diminishing the states positivity percentage. It appears Florida has done that and certainly some other states to try to justify all their premature reopenings.

[Mariana]

9. It's a popular right-wing talking point

to claim that every positive test counts as a case to falsely inflate the number of cases, since many people test positive more than once. It's a lie, of course, just like everything else the right-wingers say.

[progressive nobody]

10. This is a discussion with us because a high school friend of mine has had it twice.

Late mix March early april. had it felt like really bad pneumonia. Test negative was recovering cleared to go back to work. Got it again (or symptoms flared) not hospitalized but sent her home with Oxygen for a week. no symptoms kept testing positive. Couple weeks ago started she started getting short of breath EMTs found her unconscious. She was on a ventalor but from what I heard off the ventilator for 3 days. so he started asking if she is considered someone who had 2cases or is it 1 case ongoing.