Woman In Spain Caught COVID-19 Twice Within Record 20 Days: Report

A woman in Spain caught the coronavirus twice in a span of 20 days, researchers have claimed. According to the BBC, the 31-year-old healthcare worker was first infected with Delta in December 2021 and then Omicron in January this year.

Researchers believe the unidentified woman's case is the shortest reinfection gap since the pandemic began more than two years ago.

The health experts who examined her in Spain's Catalonia said the woman had received her COVID booster dose. Her battle was even showcased at a medical conference.

The Daily Mail spoke to one of the Spanish doctors who told the publication that this case shows “fully vaccinated people cannot assume they are protected against reinfection”.

“This case highlights the potential of Omicron to evade the previous immunity acquired either from a natural infection with other variants or from vaccines,” Daily Mail quoted Dr Gemma Recio, of the Institut Catala de la Salut, as saying.

The woman took the booster dose 12 days before she was diagnosed with COVID in December last year after which she isolated herself for 10 days.

But after she returned to work in January, the healthcare worker again reported cough and fever - tell-tale symptoms of COVID-19. Another test revealed she was positive and genome sequencing identified the strain as Omicron.

Since being detected in South Africa in November last year, Omicron has led some of the most deadly waves of coronavirus infection across the world. Countries which had started easing curbs, reimposed them to check the spread of the infection.

In the last few months, many new sub-variants of Omicron have led to a renewed concern around the spread of infection, and prompting health experts to issue fresh warnings.

Dr Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist at the World Health Organisation (WHO), told NDTV on Thursday that Omicron has spread at an alarming rate.

“Because it is able to evade vaccines to much larger extent, we see much larger number of vaccinated people getting infected. The rate of hospitalisations is, however, low,” she added.

Dr Swaminathan, however, added that there is no doubt about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines and urged people to get vaccinated.