COVID has started to show signs it’s turning into a milder illness for people who have been infected before, a study found.
Those who had previously battled the killer bug suffered far less a second time around, with lower viral loads.
It also meant they were less likely to spread the virus and become ill.
This indicates that immunity is kicking in from both the vaccine rollout and natural infections, and is a promising sign for Britain’s path through the pandemic.
The Office for National Statistics started looking at Brits who had been hit with Covid before, to see how likely it was they would pick up the virus again.
They carried out the study between April 2020 and July 2021, on 19,470.
Out of that group 195 caught it for a second time, meaning just one per cent were reinfected.
The report, out today, showed only people who tested positive at least 90 days after their first positive swab and had negative tests between were looked at.
Only a quarter of those reinfected had high viral loads, compared to a much larger cohort of two thirds having seen a high amount in their first swab.
The average Ct (cycle threshold) at the first test was 24.9, with 32.4 for the reinfection – a lower score indicates a higher viral load.
And among the group 93 had symptoms when they were infected the first time, but only 38 showed symptoms during the second bout.
Rhiannon Yapp, Senior Statistician for the Covid-19 Infection Survey, said: “This latest ONS data shows that the main symptoms continue to be a cough, fatigue and headache and we have not seen evidence of a difference in symptoms between the Delta and other variants.
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“The number of people getting reinfected with COVID remains low and if a person is reinfected, the second infection is likely to be milder.
“The ONS survey will continue to collect information from our valued participants to provide important information on infections, antibodies and characteristics of those infected.”
Last week we told how the Delta variant now makes up 99 per cent of all cases in the UK, as Public Health England urged Brits to continue to get their jabs.
New research suggested the Delta variant may be able to infect people more easily than the Alpha variant, PHE said.
While the overall chances of getting reinfected are very low, the Delta variant, first identified in India, PHE believes it is 46 per cent more likely to do so.
Professor Jonathan Ball, a virologist at the University of Nottingham, told MailOnline we “shouldn’t be too surprised” by the ONS’ findings on reinfections.
He said: “These findings show past infection results in immunity that provides good, but not absolute, protection from reinfection, at least over a relatively short time period.
“Even in those people who were reinfected, the levels of virus in their nose and throat were lower compared to viral loads seen during a first infection.
“This suggests that their pre-existing immunity, whilst not preventing infection, does effectively dampen down virus replication second-time around.
“This is important because it means people reinfected are less likely to suffer serious disease, and also the chances of them passing on the virus to others is reduced.”
Earlier today we revealed the four key graphs that show if the third Covid wave has really peaked.
Hopes have been raised after seven days of falling case numbers, but experts have warned caution at this stage.
The main indicator, and the figure that shows how the country is really coping, is the number of new hospital admissions.
While daily Covid case numbers are the most punchy and up to date, they don’t always paint the full picture.
It also doesn’t always indicate how the population is faring against the virus, but hospital admissions do.
When new patient numbers start to drop after a rise, that is when experts breathe a sigh of relief.
It gives a better picture of how well we are managing with any rise in cases, and how strongly the vaccines are working against the virus.
