COVID-19 Coming Back In Recovered Patients

Reports out of South Korea indicate that some patients who have recovered from COVID-19 are now testing positive for the virus again. South Korean public health officials are unclear whether the virus is being reactivated or whether the patients are getting reinfected. In either case, it's an ominous development since medical experts had hoped that after patients recovered from the virus, they would develop a natural immunity to it, creating the phenomenon of "herd immunity."

Health officials in South Korea are trying to determine whether the patients were reinfected or relapsed, and also whether inaccurate tests had "cleared" them of the virus. The findings will have a major impact on mitigation and treatment of COVID-19, as well as decisions impacting the world economy.