Woman In Japan Tests Positive For Coronavirus Again After Release From Hospital - Reports

Woman in Japan Tests Positive for Coronavirus Again After Release from Hospital - Reports

A woman in Japan's Osaka, who had been discharged from a hospital in early February after being treated for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has once again tested positive for the virus, Japanese media reported on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th February, 2020) A woman in Japan's Osaka, who had been discharged from a hospital in early February after being treated for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has once again tested positive for the virus, Japanese media reported on Thursday.

According to the NHK broadcaster, the woman, who is in her 40s, was working as a guide on a tour bus carrying tourists from China's Wuhan in mid-January when she developed flu-like symptoms. She was hospitalized later that month after testing positive for the virus but soon felt better and was released from the hospital just several days later. The patient was not tested again before her discharge since this was not a mandatory policy at the time.

However, the women recently started feeling sick again and was tested for the disease on Wednesday.

"This is the first case in the nation when a patient has tested positive again and [information about it] should be shared nationwide. It is necessary to investigate the cause by experts to understand whether it is a very special case or a common case," Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura said, as quoted by NHK.

The virus originated in Wuhan, where the first cases were reported in late December. Despite the Chinese city subsequently being put on lock-down, the virus has spread to over 40 countries. According to the most recent data, over 82,200 people contracted COVID-19 and over 2,800 people died from it.