---
title: "Famous Doctor: COVID-19 Reinfection Rates Are Actually “Very Reassuring”"
description: "Dr. Eric Topol says that, based on existing numbers, the odds of catching COVID-19 a second time after recovering are about one in a million."
date: "2020-10-21"
modified: "2020-10-21"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/famous-doctor-covid19-reinfection-rates-actually-very-reassuring"
categories:
  - "Developments"
  - "Health & Medicine"
tags:
  - "coronavirus"
  - "covid19"
  - "health"
  - "reinfection"
---

# Famous Doctor: COVID-19 Reinfection Rates Are Actually “Very Reassuring”

![Dr. Eric Topol says that, based on existing numbers, the odds of catching COVID-19 a second time after recovering are about one in a million.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/famous-doctor-covid19-reinfection-rates-actually-very-reassuring.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Images via Pixabay\</em\>*

We're rapidly approaching the probable [one-year anniversary](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/us-intelligence-warned-cataclysmic-coronavirus-november>) of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 infecting its first human, kicking off the COVID-19 pandemic that's now seeing its third major upsurge in the United States.

And yet, only a tiny cluster of the [almost 41 million](<https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6>) people who've caught COVID-19 worldwide seem to have been reinfected after recovering from the disease. That, according to famed cardiologist and author Eric Topol, is a rare spot of good news.

Citing a [coronavirus progress report](<https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02943-9?utm_source=twt_nnc&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=naturenews>) published Wednesday by the journal *Nature*, Topol [pointed out on Twitter](<https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1318919922919993345>) that just 32 coronavirus patients worldwide have had [confirmed reinfections](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/woman-dies-catching-covid19-twice>).

"Very reassuring, Nate," Topol said, replying to *FiveThirtyEight* editor-in-chief Nate Silver. "32 known, documented reinfection by genomics worldwide now out of \> 40 million confirmed cases. There may be more but \[reinfection\] appears to be \*exceedingly rare\* to date, like \~1 in a million."

https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1318919922919993345

For months, the issue of reinfection has puzzled scientists who wanted to know whether recovering from COVID-19 would protect patients from catching it a second time. After [anecdotal evidence](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/experts-probably-not-catching-covid-again>) pointing in both directions, doctors [confirmed a reinfection](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/doctors-confirm-patient-caught-covid-twice>) for the first time in August.

These numbers could change as the pandemic progresses ­ — as the 32 reinfection cases are those that were definitively confirmed by a doctor and it's possible others slipped through the cracks. And, with just a few months at most between infections, we could see rising reinfection numbers whenever the immune system's [coronavirus resistance](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/covid19-survivors-solid-immunity>) [naturally wears off](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/coronavirus-antibodies-fade-after-few-months>), if it does.

But for now, like Topol said, the data suggests that reinfection is likely to be a minor issue in the grand scheme of the pandemic.

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)