India's first COVID-19 patient tests positive for the virus again, but with no symptoms

A woman from Kerala, who was studying in Wuhan, was infected with the Covid-19 virus in the early days of the pandemic and was officially reported to be the first case of the virus in India. On Tuesday, it has come to everyone's notice that she has tested positive for Covid-19 again however, this time with no symptoms. The woman took an RT-PCR test in order to travel to Delhi and that's when the positive report came in.

India's first COVID-19 patient tests positive for the virus again

Interestingly, she had tested negative on a rapid anti-gen test, widely regarded as reflective of contagiousness. The rest of her family has however tested negative. "She has tested positive and is under quarantine at her home. None of the family members has tested positive so far," said Thrissur district medical officer KJ Reena to Hindustan Times. She said re-infection is nothing new, and some of the health workers have been infected twice.

The Thrissur woman is 22 years old and is waiting to resume her studies at a medical hospital in Wuhan. So far, she has taken one shot of the vaccine. She is yet to return to China as Beijing is yet to allow Indian students back into the country due to the concern of rising cases. In 2020, at the start of the pandemic, she had spent almost a month in hospital while undergoing treatment for Covid-19. She wasn't the only one who tested positive, as two of her friends from Wuhan were also infected with the virus in the next few days.

An Indian Council of Medical Research study from January to October last year estimated 4.5% reinfection cases among symptomatic people.

Stay tuned with the newstrack to get fastest updates. Click @englishnewstrack to follow us on Facebook and @newstrackmedia to follow on Twitter.