Beijing: It looks like the novel coronavirus (covid-2019) might have a longer incubation period than previously thought. A coronavirus patient in China’s Chengdu, has been re-admitted to a hospital after testing positive for the infection during a quarantine period at home, days after being discharged post-recovery.
Confirming the news, the city’s public health clinical centre said that the patient was retested ten days after being discharged from the hospital.
It is reported that several similar cases are popping up in other regions. In Hubei, where the coronavirus was first reported, a 70-year-old man did not show symptoms of the infection till 27 days after he was infected. If these reports are to be believed, then this means that the virus’ incubation period is much longer than the presumed 14-day period.
Meanwhile, a 20-year-old Chinese woman from Wuhan has infected five of her relatives with coronavirus, even though she herself did not display any symptoms. The woman had travelled 675 kms north to Anyang on January 10 and visited several family members. This, Chinese scientists say, is new evidence that the virus can be spread asymptomatically, meaning that the virus can be spread even if the patient does not display any symptoms of the infection.
This has offered clues as to how the virus is spreading and suggests why it might be difficult to stop.
According to the report by Dr. Meiyun Wang of the People’s Hospital of Zhengzhou University and colleagues, after the relatives started getting sick, doctors isolated the woman and tested her. At first, her tests came back negative, however, the second round of tests indicated that the woman was indeed infected with the coronavirus.
While all five of her relatives developed covid-19 pneumonia, the woman did not display any symptoms and her chest CT was normal. She also did not have a fever, stomach or respiratory issues or any other of the symptoms associated with coronavirus.
Now, scientists are questioning how many such transmissions have occurred and when, during the asymptomatic period, do they test positive for the infection.
