The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated their guidelines on the length of the immunity people who have been exposed to coronavirus experience, saying that people may get reinfected as little as three months after recovery, the New York Times reports.
“People who have tested positive for Covid-19 do not need to quarantine or get tested again for up to three months as long as they do not develop symptoms again. People who develop symptoms again within three months of their first bout of Covid-19 may need to be tested again if there is no other cause identified for their symptoms,” the new guidelines say.
The revised guidelines come in the wake of a number of studies that showed antibody production against the novel coronavirus lasts from two to three months. Other varieties of coronavirus, including those that cause SARS and MERS, have antibodies that scientists believe last about a year.
This new guidance calls into question the rationale for reopening businesses and schools, which relies on the belief that people cannot get infected multiple times.