New Data Suggests Low Risk Of COVID-19 Reinfection In Population: UK Body

The data was published to help monitor and understand the risk of people contracting COVID-19 again. The data will be published regularly as part of the PHE Weekly Surveillance Report, according to a release.

Public Health England (PHE) on Thursday published population surveillance data on possible coronavirus (COVID-19) reinfections and said that the new data suggests a low risk of virus in the population. The data was published to help monitor and understand the risk of people contracting COVID-19 again. The data will be published regularly as part of the PHE Weekly Surveillance Report, according to a release. The current data shows that there is a low risk of reinfection with SARS-CoV-2. There were 15,893 possible reinfections with SARS-CoV-2 identified up to May 30, 2021 in England throughout the pandemic, out of nearly four million people with confirmed infections. This is equivalent to around 0.4 per cent cases becoming reinfected. "People are understandably concerned about whether you can catch COVID-19 more than once. While we know that people can catch viruses more than once, this data currently suggests that the rate of COVID-19 reinfection is low. However, it is important that we do not become complacent about this - it is vital to have both doses of the vaccine and to follow the guidance at all times to reduce your chance of any infection," said Dr Susan Hopkins, Strategic Director for COVID-19 at PHE.