Teenager posthumously tests negative for COVID-19: authorities

SEOUL, March 19 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean teenager who died of pneumonia tested negative for the novel coronavirus, the country's health authorities said Thursday.

The 17-year-old high school student with COVID-19 symptoms died at a hospital in Daegu, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Wednesday. He was not known to have any underlying health issues.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) cited multiple organ failure as the cause of his death.

The boy had been tested 10 times, but a sample from his urine tested positive for the virus on the day of his death.

But the boy posthumously tested negative for the virus. The KCDC described the results of his urine sample test as "undecided."

As of Thursday, the country reported 8,565 cases of COVID-19 and 91 fatalities, with the number of new cases falling off from last week.

Almost all deaths in South Korea have been seniors and those with preexisting illnesses.

yonngong@yna.co.kr
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