2 SPMC patients test positive anew for COVID-19

Two patients of the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) in Davao City who had recovered from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have once again tested positive for the illness.

According to Lei Alviz's Saturday report on 24 Oras Weekend, one of the patients, a male health worker in the hospital, had a moderate case of the illness.

Meanwhile, the other male patient was also a mild COVID-19 case.

After being discharged, both patients underwent a 14-day quarantine in accordance with guidelines issued by the Department of Health.

They then returned to be tested anew for the virus, and they both tested positive. Though asymptomatic cases, they have been readmitted by the hospital in one of its facilities for observation.

"The PCR test can detect even the dead or the non-viable virus. So it can even persist sa patient na not infected, that's why puwede siyang mag-positive ulit," Dr. Marie Yvette Barez, the chairperson of the Infection Prevention and Control Unit of the SPMC, said.

According to Barez, it was unlikely that the patients were reinfected or that the virus had been reactivated.

"We based it on researches na lumalabas ngayon sa mga studies na, it could be just a dead virus o non-viable virus that can persist sa isang patient. I don't think it's reinfection kasi wala naman silang symptoms," Barez said.

In other countries such as Korea, some patients have also tested positive again for the virus after recovery.

The World Health Organization, meanwhile, explained that there was much that was still unknown about COVID-19, which was why it was still being studied by experts. — Joahna Lei Casilao/DVM, GMA News