Corona - In Kanagawa prefecture a woman approved to “return to normal life” was confirmed infected again

Recently NHK News On-line reported the following:

神奈川県が「通常生活へ復帰」認めた女性 再び感染確認 コロナ

2020年5月3日 12時10分

先月、新型コロナウイルスに感染した神奈川県の30代の女性が、自宅療養のあと陰性が確認されないまま、神奈川県から通常の生活に戻ってよいとされ、その後になって発熱し、感染が確認されていたことが分かりました。専門家は「患者によっては２週間以上の療養が必要な場合もあり、一律の対応ではなくケースごとに判断するべきだ」と指摘しています。

先月13日に感染が確認された神奈川県に住む30代の女性は、軽症と判断されたため県の方針に従って自宅で療養し、健康観察期間の２週間がすぎて症状が治まったことから、県から一般的な感染防止策を取って通常の生活に戻ってよいとされました。

女性は陰性が確認されないことに不安を覚え、自主的に自宅待機を続けていましたが、その後、38度台の熱が出て医師の判断で改めてＰＣＲ検査を受けました。

その結果、２日、感染していることが再び確認されたということです。

神奈川県は、自宅や指定した宿泊施設で療養してもらう軽症者については、入院した感染者と違って、原則、陰性を確認する検査は実施しておらず、２週間後に症状がないと電話で回答すれば、翌日以降、通常どおりの生活に戻しています。

これについて、感染症対策に詳しい北海道医療大学の塚本容子教授は「世界的に見ても、２週間たったことを理由に感染した人をふだんの生活に戻している国は少ない。患者によってはそれ以上の療養が必要な場合もあり、一律の対応ではなくケースごとに判断するべきだ」と指摘しています。

Translation

Last month in Kanagawa prefecture a woman in her thirties who had been infected with the new coronavirus was allowed to return to her normal life after being tested negative and finished home treatment. After that, she had fever and infection had been confirmed. Experts pointed out that "depending on the patient, patients may need to receive medical treatment for two weeks or more, and it is necessary to make a judgment on a case-by-case basis rather than making a uniform response."

A woman in her thirties living in Kanagawa prefecture, who was confirmed to be infected on the 13th of last month, was judged to be with a mild infection and treated at home according to the prefecture's policy. When the two-weeks health observation period passed and symptoms had subsided, advise was given based on the general infection control measures and she was permitted to return to her normal life.

Anxious about not being able to have a confirmed negative, the woman voluntarily continued to stand by at home. After that a fever in the 38's degree range came out, doctors decided to take another PCR test.

As a result, she was confirmed infected again on the 2^nd.

Unlike the hospitalized infected persons, in Kanagawa Prefecture the mildly ill people were treated at home or at a designated accommodation facility, and tests were not carried out to confirm a negative. After 2 weeks, if you answered by phone that you had no symptoms, you might return to normal life the next day.

About this, Professor Yoko Tsukamoto of Hokkaido Medical University, who was familiar with the countermeasures against infectious diseases said, "Globally, there are few countries that return infected people to their normal lives after two weeks. In some cases, the above medical treatment may be necessary, yet it should be judged on a case-by-case basis rather than giving a uniform response. "

              So, in Japan coronavirus patient are assessed by the 2-week rule and they could “return to normal life” if they have no apparent symptoms. It is understandable that Japan is doing this in order to save medial resources. Yet it is already common knowledge that in some cases the virus could stay in the patient’s body for over 2 weeks. There are also cases that infected people may not show any symptoms for more than two weeks and could infect others during that period.