Fear, dread, and panic: Some Covid-19 survivors feel stalked by possibility of reinfection
Since Covid-19 flattened him in Southern California in late June, Jarrod Castillo fears that every tickle in his throat and every twinge of pain in his limbs means he’s getting sick again. On Long Island, the thought of enduring the illness a second time fills Sadie Nagamootoo with such dread, she gets sick to her stomach. In upstate New York, where Martha Barrera suffered for more than two months with crushing respiratory symptoms, the idea of reinfection gives her such panic, she’s unable to enter a supermarket.
Anxiety about the coronavirus is widespread, and not just among older adults and those with weakened immune systems. But that fear is especially strong among people who have already experienced the severe symptoms of Covid-19, and are desperate to avoid getting reinfected. Those worries were inflamed this week by news of three confirmed cases of reinfection in Hong Kong, Belgium, and the Netherlands. While the Hong Kong man’s second illness was much milder than the first — something many scientists think will likely be the case for most people who get infected again — we still know very little about the likelihood and risks of reinfection.
