WHO looking into relapse cases US Covid-19 cases surpass half a million

The World Health Organization said on Saturday that it was looking into reports of some COVID-19 patients testing positive again after initially testing negative for the disease while being considered for discharge.

South Korean officials on Friday reported 91 patients thought cleared of the new coronavirus had tested positive again. Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

told a briefing that the virus may have been “reactivated” rather than the patients being re-infected.

The Geneva-based WHO, asked about the report from Seoul, told Reuters in a brief statement: “We are aware of these reports of individuals who have tested negative for COVID-19 using PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing and then after some days testing positive again.

“We are closely liaising with our clinical experts and working hard to get more information on those individual cases.

It is important to make sure that when samples are collected for testing on suspected patients, procedures are followed properly,” it said. According to the WHO’S guidelines on clinical management, a patient can be discharged from hospital after two consecutive negative results in a clinically recovered patient at least 24 hours apart, it added. Based on current studies, there is a period of about two weeks between the onset of symptoms and clinical recovery of patients with mild COVID-19 disease, the agency said.

“We are aware that some patients are PCR positive after they clinically recover, but we need systematic collection of samples from recovered patients to better understand how long they shed live virus,” it said.

South Korean health officials said on Friday that it remains unclear what is behind the trend.

The number of deaths linked to the novel coronavirus reached 100,000 on Friday, as reported cases passed 1.6 million.reuters

NEW YORK: Public health experts have warned that the US death toll could spike to 200,000 over the summer if unprecedented stay-at-home orders that have closed businesses and kept most Americans indoors are lifted after 30 days.

Trump, seeking re-election in November, has said he wants life to return to normal as soon as possible and that the sweeping restrictions on movement aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 disease caused by the novel coronavirus carry their own economic and public-health cost.

“I’m going to have to make a decision, and I ... hope to God that it’s the right decision,” he told reporters on Friday. “It’s the biggest decision I’ve ever had to make. Trump said the facts would determine the next move. Asked what metrics he would use to make his judgment, he pointed at his forehead: “The metrics right here, that’s my metrics.”

The current federal guidelines run to 30 April. The president will then have to decide whether to extend them or start encouraging people to go back to work and a more normal way of life. Trump said he would unveil a new advisory council next week that will include some state governors and will focus on the process of reopening the US economy.

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits in the last three weeks surpassed 15 million, as weekly new claims topped 6 million for the second straight time last week.

The government has said the economy purged 701,000 jobs in March. That was the most job losses since the Great Recession and ended the longest employment boom in US history that started in late 2010. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, and other health officials have pointed to declining rates of coronavirus hospitalisations and admissions to intensive care units - particularly in hard-hit New York state - as signs that social distancing measures are paying off.

The stay-at-home orders imposed in recent weeks across 42 states have taken a huge toll on American commerce, with some economists forecasting job losses of up to 20 million by month’s end, raising questions about how long business closures and travel restrictions can be sustained.

The Trump administration renewed talk of quickly reopening the economy after an influential university research model this week lowered its US mortality forecasts to 60,000 deaths by 4 Aug, down from at least 100,000, assuming social-distancing measures remain in place.

However, new US government data show infections will spike over the summer if stay-at-home orders are lifted after 30 days, according to projections first reported by the New York Times and confirmed by a Department of Homeland Security official.