There's a lot of confusion surrounding possible coronavirus reinfections and immunity

coronavirus.
(Image credit: PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images)

The World Health Organization set off some alarm bells this weekend when the agency warned against issuing coronavirus "immunity passports" because there's no evidence to suggest people are protected from second infections. Some people weren't so sure, even dismissing reports on the announcement as fear-mongering.

But the confusion may stem from a lack of context in reports about coronavirus reinfection or reactivation in presumably recovered patients coming out China and South Korea. For starters, there's the possibility of false negative test results, which could register as positives at a later date. It's also not always known if the patients testing positive again are showing new symptoms.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.