Categories: Updates

5 Things the World Fears Most About Covid-19: Truth or Myths

Saito burial mounds are similar to others found in Korea, Mongolia and Eurasia. The "key" shape is not a common design, but some examples exist within northern Asia.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread throughout the world, there are a number of fears that haunt us. Will the world population be able to develop “herd immunity?” Will Covid-19 eventually disappear or remain a threat to our future survival?

The fears that seem to be most prevalent are:

Fear 1 — Recovered patients can be re-infected with the virus;
Fear 2 — The virus can lay dormant within the body and reactivate at a later time;
Fear 3 — Covid-19 causes chronic (long-term) infection;
Fear 4 — The virus is mutating so rapidly that even if you recovered and your body has antibodies for fighting the first infection, they won’t recognize the newly mutated virus, hence people can get the disease more than once;
Fear 5 — Recovered patients can pass the virus on to another person.

Fortunately, as research moves forward, scientists have discovered some remarkable truths about Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2). The empirical evidence that is presented clearly refutes these fears, proving them to be groundless and not scientific fact.

Truth or Myths

Dr. John Campbell reviews the latest research from the Korean Center for Disease Control (KCDC). South Korea reported the first major outbreak of the novel coronavirus outside China. Due to the mistakes they made in 2015 when the MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) virus spread out of control in their country, both the medical community and the government were prepared to deal immediately with any new virus that may enter their country. As a result, South Korea was able to successfully contain Covid-19. After reaching a peak of 909 daily infections at the end of February, they flattened the infection curve for domestic cases within a few weeks to a few dozen by late March, into single digits during April and down to zero at the beginning of May. They were one of the very few countries in the world to do this. By using their policy of “test, trace and isolate,” they could achieve this without enforcing extensive lockdowns. (However, due to easing some of the pandemic restrictions the Korean government imposed, including reopening bars and nightclubs, there are some new outbreaks of Covid-19.)

Interview on NewsMax TV

Since the 1990s, Dr. John Campbell has been making nurse education videos and for the past 10 – 12 years, publishing them on Youtube. He is the founder of Campbell Teaching, and a medical nurse practioner and trainer. His videos for Coronavirus (Covid-19) are well-researched and articulated. The information he provides through his videos is real and factual, not sensationalized. He presents a wide variety scientific information based on data from other scientists from their latest research and clarifies the data with regard to how the body’s physiology operates. His descriptions and subsequent clarifications are easy for the layperson (not scientifically trained) to understand, which is absolutely necessary if we (the entire world) are going to control the outcomes of this Covid-19 pandemic.

Dr. Campbell promotes the idea that the pandemic disregards international borders and that we (the world) must fight it together if we are to successfully control it. He believes and enthusiastically endorses that scientific knowledge is the essential tool the world has to fight this pandemic.

One Last Thing

As we have learned, the five worst fears about Covid-19 are all myths. Recovered patients were not re-infected, they were immune because their bodies had developed antibodies. The reinfection myth seems to be an artifact of the PCR test limitations and its inability to distinguish between live RNA viral cells (infectious) and dead RNA viral cells (not infectious). Also, the virus cannot be reactivated like HIV or Hepatitis B where the pathogen gets into the cell’s nucleus and becomes part of the body’s DNA. Additionally, Covid-19 is currently undergoing very small genetic changes and is not mutating as quickly as the medical community first feared. As a result, the antibodies our bodies create to fight Covid-19 will probably be effective for one to two years like the antibodies that were developed for fighting the other coronaviruses. Finally, the KCDC has not found a single case where a recovered patient (still testing positive for viral antigens) has passed the coronavirus on to another person. Exceptionally Great News!

Although this is all very remarkable, we still have to be cautious about easing the pandemic restrictions and practices. As you will learn in a future post, only 10% of the world population has gotten Covid-19 and developed the antibodies to fight the virus. In order to get to herd immunity, about 70% of the world has to get the virus, that’s another 60% of the world population. So you can see that although the past 2 – 3 months of pandemic restrictions seems like a lifetime, we are only at the beginning of this pandemic, or at least until a safe and effective vaccine is available for eradicating it everywhere in the world, including small, remote villages in the Himalayas.

Please go slowly and continue to be cautious, the worst is not over yet! If we practice good hygiene, social distancing and other pandemic norms we can all get through this. Also, take care of your health and check if your vitamin D3 levels are sufficient. Remember, what you do this year will affect someone else, so let’s make sure our actions have a positive impact, the world's health depends on it.

Looking forward to meeting you in the post-Covid-19 era. All the best to you and the people you care about….

Mick Stetson

Mick STETSON IS A PHOTOJOURNALIST AND FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER WHO SPECIALIZES IN DOCUMENTING CULTURES AND PEOPLE FROM REMOTE REGIONS WITHIN ASIA. MICK FOCUSES MAINLY ON DIMINISHING CULTURES AND CULTURES THAT ARE TRANSITIONING OR TRANSFORMING AS A RESULT OF THE ENCROACHMENT OF MODERNITY. HE IS ESPECIALLY INTERESTED IN THE EFFECT THAT THE PRESSURES OF GLOBALIZATION ARE HAVING ON THE TRADITIONAL LIFESTYLES OF VARIOUS EHTNIC GROUPS AND HOW IT AFFECTS THEIR INDIVIDUAL AND CULTURAL FREEDOM.