There is only a slim possibility of people being reinfected with COVID-19, the UN Health Agency said , following reports that a man in Hong Kong had contracted new coronavirus a second time after more than four months.
World Health Organization spokesperson Dr. Margaret Harris downplayed concerns that the development could herald a new alert.
“The important – other important – thing to note is the numbers are very, very small,” she said.
“So this is one documented case in over 23 million and we will probably see other documented cases. But it seems to be not a regular event, we would have seen many more cases.”
Dr. Harris noted that the reinfection signaled on Monday was significant.
According to the University of Hong Kong scientists who announced the development, the COVID-19 strain that infected the man a second time was different than the first.
“The important thing here is that this is clear documentation,” said Harris. “So, we’ve had anecdotal reports every now and then from people who’ve tested negative, then tested positive. And it hasn’t been clear up until this case whether that was simply a problem of testing or whether people were getting infected a second time.”