According to Business Insider, new research from Wayne State University in Detroit found that the average viral load among COVID patients declined from April to June.
That finding also coincided with a trend of infections getting less severe over time. This may mean that taking precautions, like mask wearing and/or social distancing helps to decrease exposure to the virus.
It may also suggest that a lower viral load my be associated with a lower mortality rate, but more research is needed to confirm that possibility.
Dr. Monica Gandhi, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco told Business Insider, "A low viral load from swabs likely indicates an ability to control the viral infection better and, therefore, have less severe disease."