Coronavirus could "reactivate" in cured patients, finds study

Coronavirus could "reactivate" in patients who have been cured of the disease, according to Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

51 patients who tested negative for the virus have tested positive again.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said the people from Daegu and the surrounding North Gyeongsang province, the epicentres of the pandemic in South Korea, tested positive for the virus after they were released from quarantine, reported Yonhap News Agency.

Study claims that the virus might have reactivated in their bodies after they tested negative.

“While we are putting more weight on reactivation as the possible cause, we are conducting a comprehensive study on this," Jeong said. “There have been many cases when a patient during treatment will test negative one day and positive another."

Recovery of a patient is ensured after results of two successive tests conducted within 24 hours time period come out negative.

It was on Feb 21, that South Korea confirmed the country’s first coronavirus (COVID-19) death as the number of people infected with the disease continued to swell since the first reported case a month ago. The deceased is a 63-year-old man from Cheongdo county, bordering the city of Daegu, who died from pneumonia. Evidence the virus was present in the man’s body.

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