Doctors speak out: Less severe COVID-19 cases observed since start of pandemic

(NaturalHealth365) Currently, the country is seeing a spike in reported COVID-19 cases, leading to a lot of talk about shutting down certain states and cities again. While most people don’t love the idea of another round of “Shelter in Place” orders, some experts are calling for that very thing. Yet recent news shows some positive news – the virus seems to be weakening.

According to San Martino hospital’s head of infectious disease, Dr. Matteo Bassetti, the COVID-19 virus seems to be less dangerous than before. While cases were originally quite severe at the beginning of the pandemic, Bassetti – and others – are reporting that cases have become less severe over time.

Doctors believe coronavirus has become less potent

Bassetti noted that the virus seems to be less potent now. What he saw back in March and early April was severe. Individuals affected by COVID-19 were showing up in the emergency department early on with an infection that was difficult to manage, many requiring oxygen, ventilation, and other aggressive treatments. Others developed pneumonia as a complication.

But, in the past month or so, Bassetti has seen that change.  He’s seen elderly patients with coronavirus breathing on their own and sitting up in bed, while those same patients likely would have died in just a couple of days back in March or April.

Doctors at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) tell the same story. Dr. Don Yealy, who heads up the Emergency Department, noted that even among those who are testing positive, most have fewer symptoms and may even be less likely to infect others.

Mutations likely responsible for the weakening of COVID-19

Why is COVID-19 getting weaker?  These doctors think that virus mutations are likely responsible.

Bassetti noted that he believes social distancing measures likely resulted in coronavirus mutations. The immune systems reacts to this virus, and because of social distancing, lockdown and mask-wearing, now people have a lower viral load.

He even went as far as to say that it’s possible the coronavirus will be eliminated before a vaccine is discovered, although other experts aren’t so sure.

According Dr. Yealy from UPMC, among the 8,000 asymptomatic people that they tested, under 1% of those individuals ended up testing positive for the virus. He went on to say that the risk of catching the coronavirus from someone who is asymptomatic is very small, which is more encouraging news.

Does this mean it’s time to stop practicing protective measures?  Probably not.

And we should all continue to work on boosting our immune system function with healthy eating, an avoidance of toxins, and the addition of supplements like glutathione and vitamin C.  But looking forward, we do have some hope for the future that COVID-19 may not be the killer that it was a few months ago.

Sources for this article include:

NYPost.com
WPXI.com