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But:

> no live virus was isolated from culture beyond day 9 of symptoms despite persistently high viral RNA loads.

> This finding is supported by several studies demonstrating an association between viral load and viability of virus, with no successful culture from samples below a certain viral load threshold.

So the amount shed is too low to infect anyone beyond 9-10 days (I think, I am not a virologist, etc.)

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>So the amount shed is too low to infect anyone beyond 9-10 days (I think, I am not a virologist, etc.)

Is it possible to acquire immunity against the virus (in a similar way that vaccines work) by being in contact with someone at say day 20+?

If it would be possible, pandemic would be over months ago and there would be no need to develop any vaccine.

It could be possible, just unlikely enough that immunity doesn't spread fast enough.

Sounds reasonable - but I'd still prefer to stay away from people who are shedding the virus.

There is also a similar theory that cloth masks might have the unintended positive side effect of building immunity. They are not perfect, so the virus might still reach its target. But the viral load could be reduced enough that instead of infection it leads to immunity.

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