Coronavirus positive
Coronavirus positiveiStock

A Japanese woman has tested positive for the Coronavirus a second time after being previously believed to have recovered from the disease,Reuters reported.

The woman, a tour bus guide in her 40s, was first diagnosed in late January. She was released from the hospital after she recovered. However, she was readmitted after she complained of a sore throat and chest pains and tested positive again.

This is the first known case of a recurrence of the Coronavirus in Japan. Health Minister Katsunobu Kato has informed the Japanese government of the need to monitor patients who have previously tested positive for the Coronavirus and recovered. Cases of recurrence have previously been reported in China.

Philip Tierno Jr., professor of microbiology and pathology at NYU School of Medicine, told Reuters: “Once you have the infection, it could remain dormant and with minimal symptoms, and then you can get an exacerbation if it finds its way into the lungs.”

“I’m not certain that this is not bi-phasic, like anthrax,” he warned, noting the possibility that the Coronavirus may go dormant within a person's body before reappearing.

The Coronavirus has infected over 82,000 people since the outbreak began in Ruhan, China in December 2019. At least 2,800 people have died of the disease.