A man in China has been diagnosed with the coronavirus for the second time in four months, according to authorities. The unnamed patient...
A man in China has been diagnosed with the coronavirus for the second time in four months, according to authorities.
The unnamed patient from China’s north-eastern province Jilin tested positive for COVID-19 again on Monday after he was first infected with the pathogen in April and recovered.
The announcement came a day after officials announced that an elderly woman in the former epicentre Hubei province was diagnosed with the coronavirus for the second time in six months.
The unnamed patient from China’s north-eastern province Jilin tested positive for COVID-19 again on Monday after he was first infected with the pathogen in April and recovered. In this file picture, a health worker conducts a coronavirus test on a man in Beijing on June 24
The announcement came a day after an elderly woman in the former epicentre Hubei province was diagnosed with the coronavirus for the second time in six months. This file photo taken on February 16 shows doctors check a patient who is infected with the coronavirus in Wuhan
The Chinese man was confirmed as an ‘imported case’ in April after arriving in the country from abroad, said the officials in a notice. It remains unclear where the citizen had travelled from.
He was later discharged from the hospital and passed quarantine, the authorities claimed, without specifying exactly when the man recovered.
On August 9, the Jilin resident travelled with his wife to Shanghai to seek medical advice at the Zhongshan Hospital.
He tested positive for the coronavirus on August 11 after the hospital conducted nucleic acid testing on its admitted patients, a requirement ordered by the government.
The Chinese man was confirmed as an ‘imported case’ in April after arriving in the country from abroad, said the officials in a notice. It remains unclear where the citizen had travelled from. Hazmat-clad health workers are pictured conducting swab tests on June 16 in Beijing
So far, there have been no scientifically proven cases of someone catching it twice, with experts tending to blame inaccurate test results or lengthy illness. In this file photo taken on February 13, a medic checks a coronavirus patient at the Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan
The man has been quarantined for treatment after being diagnosed as an asymptomatic coronavirus patient, according to the Shanghai officials.
His spouse and another 23 close contacts have also been put under isolation. They were tested and declared virus-free by the authorities.
The news comes as a woman in China has tested positive for coronavirus six month months after recovering from the infection.
The 68-year-old, from Jingzhou city, which neighbours Wuhan, the epicentre of the pandemic, was diagnosed with COVID-19 for the second time on August 9.
She had tested positive previously on February 8 and beat the disease later that month, according to the Jingzhou government.
The patient has been quarantined and is receiving treatment. Her close contacts have all been tracked down and tested for the infection.
It comes a month after a doctor in Israel was diagnosed with COVID-19 for the second time and raises questions about our understanding of immunity against the disease.
So far, there have been no scientifically proven cases of someone catching it twice, with experts tending to blame inaccurate test results or lengthy illness. Some say it is not uncommon for parts of viruses to keep circulating even after recovery.
Traditional understanding of viruses suggests that people who have had COVID-19 already should develop a level of immunity that is at least temporary.
But cases such as this one call the idea of natural protection into question. As well as concerns about reinfection, there are also signs that people may simply remain ill for a long time with the virus still circulating in their bodies.
No comments