'Incubation Period Controversy' Patient No. 28, 10th Recovery Case in Korea... Discharged Today (Update)

Gyeonggi-do Goyang Myeongji Hospital Regional Emergency Medical Center
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] The 28th confirmed case of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in South Korea (born in 1989, female of Chinese nationality), who sparked controversy over the "incubation period," is showing improved symptoms and is about to be discharged.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters announced at a regular briefing on the 17th, "The 28th patient tested negative twice consecutively after being hospitalized," and "will be released from isolation as of today." This patient received isolated treatment at Myongji Hospital.

COVID-19 patients are released from isolation if 48 hours have passed since symptoms disappeared and two consecutive real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests conducted at 24-hour intervals show negative results. This constitutes a complete recovery from COVID-19. Additionally, the attending medical staff make the final decision on discharge considering the patient's underlying conditions and aftereffects. The 28th patient was given an "undetermined" result in the first test on the 12th, which was borderline between negative and positive, and subsequently tested negative in three tests.

This patient is an acquaintance of the 3rd confirmed case (born in 1966, male of Korean nationality), who was confirmed on the 26th of last month. They entered the country together from Wuhan, China on the 20th of last month and visited a plastic surgery clinic. Classified as a close contact of the 3rd confirmed case, the patient was under self-quarantine from the 26th of last month but was confirmed positive on the 10th of this month. It took 17 days from the last contact with the 3rd patient on the 25th of last month to the confirmation of infection. Since this exceeded the known maximum incubation period of 14 days for COVID-19, there was controversy domestically about whether the isolation period for this infectious disease should be extended beyond 14 days.

Gwak Jin, head of the epidemiological investigation and patient management team at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, explained, "After review with the Central Clinical Task Force, it is possible that this patient was asymptomatically infected or had mild symptoms in the early infection stage that were masked by medications (pain relievers and anti-inflammatory drugs) being taken at the time," adding, "The recent positive test is considered to be during the recovery phase clinically, and it is judged not to be a case that exceeded the incubation period."

Once this patient leaves the hospital, the total number of discharged COVID-19 patients in South Korea will be 10. Myongji Hospital will have no patients left under isolated treatment, having previously treated the 3rd, 17th (born in 1982, male of Korean nationality), and 28th patients.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.