COVID-19 exposed? Whether you become infected depends on it

If you have not yet had COVID-19, you may not know if you have been in close contact with the virus. Perhaps your colleague was diagnosed or your roommate. Did you still have direct contact with them? Did you have an asymptomatic infection? There is no real way of knowing, but whether or not you will get an infection depends on a variety of factors.

The New York Times states that it doesn’t matter whether or not you have been exposed to the virus, it depends on the amount. In fact, clearance guidelines and the wearing of masks are meant to reduce the amount of viruses you come into contact with. a sign against something you are likely to stumble upon at some point.

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Photo by Lukas Souza via Unsplash

With the Delta variant in the mix and over a year of pandemic life under our belts, it is very likely that we have interacted with the virus to some extent. Whether or not you had the disease depends on your protections, the activity you were involved in, and whether or not the person who gave you the virus was a super-spreader – a mystery attached to that of each person seems to be genetics.

“It’s really so transmissible that I think, depending on the rate of transmission of the community in your area, there is a high probability – if you have a significant or high rate of transmission in your area as per CDC definitions – that you may have been exposed . ”Disease expert Monica Gandhi told the Huffington Post.

When people are exposed, they become symptomatically, asymptomatically infected, or their bodies fight off the infection, which they are unlikely to notice. You may have warded off the disease by feeling depressed or tired and watching your symptoms closely.

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Does exposure mean you have stronger protection from the virus? Scientists don’t yet know the answer to this, although it would make sense if it were true. Certain studies expose healthy young people to small amounts of the virus in hopes of understanding how our bodies react to that exposure and whether or not it makes the immune system stronger. However, there is no way of knowing how the virus will affect you, especially considering how variable the disease has been based on who it is infecting.

At this point, we are likely all in close contact with the virus. However, the more we come into contact with the virus, the more likely it is that we become infected. Measures like wearing masks and social distancing can reduce your chances of contracting the disease, but if you’re in a crowded indoor space with poor ventilation, the odds are against you. Vaccinations are by far the most effective protective measures, even if a breakthrough of COVID-19 is still possible.