Patients Are Attending COVID-19 Parties In North Carolina To Catch The Virus On Purpose

WHAT’S BEING CLAIMED:

• North Carolina Hospital reports patients attending “coronavirus parties” before admission.
• These patients claim that these parties are herd immunity parties, explaining that after increasing their exposure to the virus and infection, they would develop immunity.
• This concept about antibodies delivering coronavirus immunity remains unverified at present.

Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center in North Carolina releases information about patients recently in “coronavirus parties” to catch the virus on purpose, hoping to develop immunity.

 “Over the last few days, we have heard from a lot of patients and the community that they’re unafraid of getting the virus,” Nurse Practitioner (NP) Yolanda Enrich said. “People are actually out and about trying to get the virus, so attending gatherings, parties trying to maximize their chances of exposure.”

The medical worker said that there are patients telling other health care workers about increasing their exposure to the virus on purpose, hoping for disease infection that will, in turn, lead to the development of antibodies. These patients hope that by doing so precautions will no longer be needed. However, there are no researches at present that determined whether these antibodies deliver coronavirus immunity.

“We’re really concerned about this trend,” Enrich said. “They can spread the virus around the community and hurt our vulnerable populations that will have serious health implications.”

Gov. Roy Cooper (D) and state health officials oppose the concept. He said such behavior was “completely irresponsible and absolutely unacceptable” at a news conference this week. “If you do that you can easily kill someone you love.”

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), North Carolina wants to deescalate the situation. Health Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen said that more cases only translate to increased probabilities of infection for parts of the population more at risk.

“There is no circumstance under which we want people to actively pursue getting COVID-19,” said DHHS Secretary. “The reason we’re working so hard collectively to keep virus spread low is the fact that when there is more virus in our community, it not only impacts those who have it, but particularly those who are at high risk of getting severe reactions to disease.”

World Health Organization (WHO) rebuke the concept about antibodies delivering coronavirus immunity earlier this month. Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan explain that natural immunity is estimated between 10 and 15 percent, far from the 90 to 95 percent prerequisite to would herd immunity. This is reported in research studies around the world.

She also said that this approach would mean accepting a “high rate of death.”

Source: New York Post