Three more cases test positive again after being declared recovered.

Accordingly,Patient number 74 (BN 74)Patient 74 (23 years old, residing in Tan Trung Hamlet, Lam Thao Town, Lam Thao District, Phu Tho Province) tested positive again after recovering from the illness and is being monitored in home isolation. On March 18, 2020, the patient exhibited symptoms of cough and fever, but no shortness of breath. A sample was taken for testing and the patient tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The patient was transferred to Bac Ninh Provincial General Hospital for treatment. After 3 days, the patient's fever subsided, and there was no shortness of breath or respiratory failure.

By April 10, 2020, the patient had tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 twice consecutively, meeting the criteria for being declared recovered. They were then transferred to continue monitoring and isolation for 14 days at their home in Phu Tho.

During the isolation period, the patient did not have a fever, cough, or shortness of breath. On April 25, 2020, after 14 days of home isolation, Patient 74 was tested again, and the result was suspected to be positive for SARS-CoV-2. The patient was then transferred to the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases for monitoring and treatment.

During the quarantine period, Patient 74 complied with home isolation and had contact with family members. Currently, all F1 contacts of Patient 74 have been quarantined.

Previously, according to a report from the Treatment Subcommittee of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, five patients tested positive again after being declared recovered. (Illustrative image)

BN 207The patient was declared recovered by the Cu Chi Field Hospital on April 18th; this patient was admitted on April 1st and had three negative test results (April 13th, 15th, and 17th, 2020); On April 18th, the patient met the criteria for being declared recovered. On April 25th, 2020, the patient was monitored at home and retested, which returned a positive result.

BN 224The patient was declared recovered by the Cu Chi Field Hospital on April 18th. This patient was admitted on March 30th and had five negative test results (April 12th, 13th, 15th, 15th, and 16th, 2020). The patient met the criteria for being declared recovered on April 18th. On April 23rd, 2020, after monitoring at home, the patient was retested and the result was positive again.

Regarding further information on asymptomatic carriers or cases where individuals initially tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 but later tested positive again, Professor Nguyen Thanh Long, Permanent Deputy Minister of Health, stated that several professional issues arise with these cases. Firstly, it is possible that the patient has not fully recovered, and the pathogen has not been completely eliminated during treatment; the virus may still exist in the body, especially in the mucosal cells of the lungs.

Secondly, there's the possibility that people who have recovered from the illness are shedding the virus in an inactive form – viral remnants. By amplifying the genes, we can identify the virus's genes. In this case, the pathogen is being shed, but it's not active.

Thirdly, there are asymptomatic carriers (currently there is one case). To date, we cannot definitively confirm whether this is an asymptomatic carrier, but it appears to be one. This can occur when the body has not yet produced enough antibodies to control and eliminate the virus.

"We have instructed the relevant agencies that in all cases where a test initially shows a negative result followed by a positive result, the virus should be cultured in two laboratories. If the virus is alive and growing, it proves that the person has not yet recovered from the illness," Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Long emphasized.