Over 110 people retest positive for coronavirus: authorities

SEOUL, April 12 (Yonhap) -- The number of people who fully recovered from the new coronavirus and retest positive topped 110 in South Korea, health authorities said Sunday.

According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), 111 people have tested positive for the new coronavirus again, after they were released from quarantine.

KCDC Director-General Jeong Eun-kyeong said in a daily briefing that a viral test on such cases is currently under way.

A huge chunk of such cases were reported in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, once the two epicenters of the virus outbreak here.

The KCDC said it is looking into whether those who retested positive have an antibody that would indicate whether they have recovered, as some health experts said people with the antibody are not contagious.

Health authorities here have said the virus was highly likely to have been reactivated, instead of the people being reinfected, as they tested positive again in a relatively short time after being released from quarantine.

They also said earlier the COVID-19 virus may remain latent in certain cells in the body and attack the respiratory organs again once reactivated

A COVID-19 patient is deemed fully recovered after showing negative results for two tests in a row within a 24-hour interval.

The country's COVID-19 infections reported 32 additional virus cases, bringing total infections to 10,512.

sam@yna.co.kr
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