Traveler to Beijing tests positive for COVID-19 on last day of quarantine
Doctors are struggling to explain why a person who traveled from Hong Kong to Beijing tested positive for COVID-19 on the final day of his quarantine.
Respiratory medicine specialist Leung Chi-chiu told Apple Daily that it was hard to say definitively why the 60-year-old Hong Kong resident tested positive after taking a flight to Beijing. The man had taken multiple tests and only received a positive diagnosis on the last day of his 14-day quarantine.
Leung said the man might not have been tested properly earlier, resulting in false negative results. “He might also have been infected on the plane, by coming into contact with the cabin crew or other objects. But that possibility is relatively low,” he said.
There are many cases of patients getting a positive COVID-19 diagnosis after the incubation period, so authorities should consider putting individuals under medical observation for even longer periods.
“Just because the incubation period is over, that doesn’t mean patients are in the clear. If there are more cases of false negatives, then the duration of medical observation should be extended by seven to 14 days,” Leung said.
Mainland Chinese authorities require passengers on inbound flights to submit testing reports completed within seven days before arrival. Leung said it would be difficult to impose a more stringent time limit, given that flight tickets are less flexible than other means of transportation.
In Zhuhai, a city in Guangdong province, a 59-year-old woman from Hong Kong also tested positive for COVID-19 on the final day of her quarantine on Dec. 5. She had earlier tested negative twice but has since been diagnosed with the coronavirus.
An Indonesian traveler to Taiwan tested positive on Sunday, despite testing negative three days before the flight. Taiwanese authorities said that the patient might have shown up as a false negative during the incubation period.
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