COVID-19: What science tells us about ‘Indian immunity’

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Editor's note: We don’t have a paywall for most of our stories on Coronavirus and its impact. Support us and subscribe here. It’s not called “novel” without reason. In the four months since it surfaced, the newest addition to the coronavirus family—which ranges from some varieties of the common cold to the Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS—continues to gobsmack. The latest discovery about the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 is that it can cause a loss of smell and taste. We learnt, prior, that silent or asymptomatic transmission is a threat. And that it, unlike its family members, affects the windpipe and lungs (lower airways) as much as it does our throat, nose and sinuses (upper airways). COVID-19 can rob our lungs of oxygen, fill them with fluid, and give us acute respiratory distress syndrome. We were told high blood pressure is a risk factor. Now it seems that isn’t so. As the virus goes from being an acquaintance to a squatter, modern medicine runs pillar to post. Our complex brains are being challenged by a virus with a single strand of …