US president Donald Trump, on Sunday declared himself immune from Covid-19 as he prepared to return to the campaign trail in a fight to regain ground against surging White House rival, Joe Biden.
“It looks like I’m immune for, I don’t know, maybe a long time or maybe a short time, it could be a lifetime, nobody really knows, but I’m immune,” Trump said in a Fox News interview, a day after his doctor affirmed he was no longer a transmission risk for the disease.
“You have a president who is immune.. so now you have a president who doesn’t have to hide in a basement like his opponent,” he added in a jab at the Democrat Biden and his far more cautious approach to campaigning in a pandemic.
It is not yet clear to what degree contracting Covid-19 confers immunity from future infection, with early studies suggesting a few month while newer ones have indicated it could last longer.
While it acknowledges that – generally – a person who recovers from a viral infection, the World Health Organization WHO cautioned in August: “For Covid-19, we do not yet have enough data to confirm if antibodies protect, what antibody levels are required, or how long protection will last.”
