Covid 19: Kuwait-returned nurse tests positive again in Kerala

PTI, May 19, 2020, 3:29 PM IST

Malappuram: In the first case of relapse of Covid-19 infection in Kerala, a nine-month pregnant nurse, who returned from Kuwait recently after recovering from the disease, has tested positive once again here.

The 34-year-old Alappuzha native had returned to India on May 13 after she managed to get a ticket on board one of the special flights arranged by the central government under the ‘Vande Bharat mission ” to bring back stranded Indians from the gulf and other countries.

On disclosing her history of coronavirus and recovery from the disease in Kuwait, the health authorities had shifted her to the isolation ward at the Government medical college in Manjeri.

District health authorities said the woman had returned to India after recovering from the viral infection, but before a repeat test prescribed after 14 days.

“We appreciate the fact that she disclosed the facts of her infection history.

She tested negative in Kuwait, but got her ticket to India before undergoing a second test,” the District Medical Officer Dr K Sakeena told PTI.

Though the case of a relapse is a first in the state, there have been cases of complications of the coronavirus recovered persons as their immune systems became weak, sources pointed out.

There have been cases of relapse of the infection from some other places in the country, they said.

With one more person testing positive on Monday, the total number of positive cases in Malappuram district has gone up to 22.

As many as 22 of those who had tested positive earlier have recovered and have been discharged.