BFF-23 Japan woman tests positive for virus after ‘recovery’

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Japan woman tests positive for virus after ‘recovery’

TOKYO, Feb 27, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – A woman in Japan who contracted the new
coronavirus and was released from hospital after recovering has tested
positive again, officials said Thursday.

The case is the first time a patient apparently cleared of the virus has
subsequently tested positive for it, a local official in Osaka said.

The woman in her 40s was first confirmed as infected with the coronavirus
on January 29.

She was working as a guide on a tour bus with tourists from Wuhan, the
epicentre of the outbreak, in January. The driver of the bus was also
diagnosed with the virus.

After being discharged from hospital she tested negative for the virus on
February 6, although she still had a cough at the time.

She had no symptoms a week later, but returned to the doctor on February
21 complaining of a sore throat and chest pains.

On Wednesday, she tested positive for the coronavirus for a second time,
officials said.

At least 186 people in Japan have so far contracted the virus, with three
deaths in the country linked to the outbreak.

Aside from domestic cases, at least 705 people have been diagnosed with
the virus on board a cruise ship that was quarantined off Japan, including
passengers who were allowed to leave the boat after testing negative.

There have been four deaths linked to the virus from the ship.

The government has come under pressure for a relatively hands-off approach
to the virus, but on Thursday the Osaka prefectural government said it would
expand screening of patients to a broader group than currently stipulated by
central guidelines.

“We will make sure that people who should be tested, get tested, and will
avoid a worst-case scenario by preventing these people from developing
symptoms and serious conditions,” Osaka governor Hirofumi Yoshimura said.

BSS/AFP/MSY/1242 hrs