Earlier today in New York City, the weather took a sweltering turn

— it’s as if summer had arrived ahead of schedule.

With a liberalizing weather and the thrills that come with it, we, New Yorkers, had something to feel good about. The weather has been good. And there is something else to feel good about.

The number of daily Covid-19 deaths has plummeted immensely. Time was, and not long ago, we had daily deaths as high as 800 or more. Yesterday, New York registered only 67 deaths, according to the state governor Andrew Cuomo. The numbers have gone on a downward trajectory. Daily hospitalizations are down, too.

The state of New York State has ramped up its testing of its citizens. More people are now getting tested for the Coronavirus. I, too, finally got tested.

Last week, I tested for the antibodies to the Coronavirus and for the presence of the virus itself. The results came in: antibodies have been detected in my blood. And I am not currently infected with the Coronavirus.

What does this all mean for me? It simply means as at now I don’t carry the virus. But the presence of antibodies to the Coronavirus in my blood indicates that at some point in the recent past that I became infected with the virus and my immune system eventually repelled it and I, in the process, developed some immunity against future infections. (But I always suspected I was dealing with Covid-19 symptoms.)

Finally, I have gotten some clarity on my Covid-19 status: I once had it but I no longer do. But what does this mean going forward? True, I have the antibodies, the proteins that will protect me from getting another Coronavirus infection, there is still a lot of ambiguity about them, their potency and longevity.

So the presence of antibodies shouldn’t give me a false sense of hope, of invincibility. At this point in the scientific debate about the possibilities of a Coronavirus re-infection or a lack thereof, there is still much to be discovered.

“We do not know yet if people who recover from COVID-19 can get infected again. Scientists are working to understand this,” the Center for Disease Control (CDC), a major player in the fight against the Coronavirus in the US, says on its website.

Until scientists come to a fuller understanding of this virus and until a vaccine for it arrives, I know I should continue taking preventive measures to protect myself and those around me.

By Cherno Baaba Jallow