5 Test Positive in Kerala after 28 Days in Quarantine, Experts Say Little Chance of Infecting Others

Thiruvananthapuram: At least five persons tested positive in Kerala after completing 28 days of quarantine raising concerns about the number of days one needs to be in isolation to keep coronavirus at bay.

Also, all the patients were asymptomatic. However, there is very little of chance of such individuals infecting others after 28 days in quarantine, say health experts.

Of the five cases, a woman from Kottayam district tested positive for COVID-19 on the 44th day of her arrival from Sharjah. One of them is a lorry driver whose samples tested positive after returning from Maharashtra 30 days ago.

Public Health Specialist and a member of the state’s core team in tackling the pandemic Dr Mohammad Asheel said the virus can infect others three days before the appearance of symptoms and is almost non-infective after the symptoms go.

“We have identified more than five cases where the patients tested positive after 28 days. But they cannot infect others. At the same time, in up to 58 days, the test can show positive results.”

Clinical epidemiologist Dr Manu Raj also said that testing positive after 28 days of quarantine is not much of a concern from a public health point of view.

“The Chinese data shows that you infect others most three to four days prior to getting symptoms and with each passing day it lessens. They say it's hard to infect others after carrying this virus for 21 days,” Dr Raj said.

He said the proactive nature and the extra vigilant nature of the state’s health authorities have ensured in low morbidity and very low mortality rate.

So far, 485 people have tested positive for the virus in the state, while three persons have lost their lives. At present, there are 123 are active cases, while 359 people have recovered till now.