Covid mystery of why some people don't catch virus probed by scientists

Study by Imperial College London suggests early immune responses as one reason why some are less likely to contract Covid-19, reports Furvah Shah

The study by Imperial College London of healthy volunteers aged 18 to 30 found half of participants didn’t test positive for Covid-19, while the other half showed mild symptoms. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Scientists are trying to find out exactly why some people seem to be “immune” to contracting Covid-19.

Researchers at Imperial College London studied those who showed resistance to catching Covid and found that of the 36 unvaccinated participants who were artificially exposed to the virus, half did not develop an infection while most of the others later tested positive for very low levels of the virus.

One participant, 22-year-old Phoebe Garrett from High Wycombe, said she has been knowingly exposed to the virus around four times – even at a party where everyone else later tested positive – yet she is still yet to get ill.