India's first Covid-19 patient from Thrissur tests positive for disease again

THRISSUR: A woman medico, who was India's first COVID-19 patient, has tested positive again for the virus, health authorities said in Thrissur today.

"She is re-infected with COVID-19. Her RT-PCR is positive, antigen is negative. She is asymptomatic," Thrissur District Medical Officer Dr K J Reena said.

"Her samples were tested as she was prepared to go to New Delhi for study purposes. Then the RT-PCR result turned out to be positive," she said.

The woman is currently at home and "she is OK," the doctor said.

It was on January 30, 2020 that the third year medical student from Wuhan university tested positive for COVID-19, becoming India's first COVID-19 patient, days after she had returned home following semester holidays.

After nearly three weeks of treatment at the Thrissur Medical College Hospital, she had tested negative twice for the virus, confirming her recovery, and was discharged on February 20, 2020.