No need to retest: Controller

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PAPUA New Guinea Pandemic Controller and Police Commissioner David Manning says those who had been tested positive for coronavirus (Covid-19) does not need to be retested (using either RT-PCR or GeneXpert) if they showed no virus symptoms after completing their isolation period.
“A recovered case is someone who had completed his or her isolation period and is deemed to have clinically recovered from the Covid-19,” he said.
“People may shed virus for over three months after contracting the Covid-19, but are no longer considered infectious after completing their isolation period.
“Thus, re-testing after the isolation period is not recommended.
“We are aware of the huge public interest on the number of active cases and the number of people who had tested positive for the Covid-19 and have recovered.
“Active and recovered cases are not reported by the NCC because the data are not available at the national level.”
“Each provincial health authority (PHA) is responsible for monitoring and reporting such data.
“In order to determine if an individual diagnosed with the Covid-19 is still considered an “active” case or “recovered”, their clinical status and the time that has passed since they tested positive for the Covid-19 needs to be monitored and reported to the NCC daily.
“The length of time a case is considered to be “active” (that is, infectious and capable of transmitting the virus) and the length of time a case needs to be isolated, varies from person to person.
“Asymptomatic cases that never develop symptoms are considered active for 10 days from the date their positive swabs are taken.
“Symptomatic cases are considered active for 10 days after the date of onset of their symptoms, and they must be symptom-free for at least three consecutive days.”

One thought on “No need to retest: Controller

  • So when we are tested and shows positive for covid-19 the positive case tally increases but after treatment and isolation for a few days and recovering back to be negative the tally does not drop it still stays and increases without the right actual positive tally. Maybe there should be a negative case tally too!

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