Alarming ! After recovering in February, Chinese woman again tests +ve in August

August 14: A woman has tested positive for coronavirus for the second time in a city in the central province of Hubei, where the virus first emerged. The 68-year-old tested positive for Covid-19 on 8 February and recovered. However, she was hospitalised with an illness and returned a positive result for the virus again on 9 August. The elderly patient was quarantined, and her close contacts have tested negative for the virus, the health authorities said.

There have been several reports worldwide of people becoming reinfected with the novel coronavirus after recovering from it once. The case is one of a number that appear to show people getting diagnosed with the coronavirus more than once.

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.