Coronavirus: Japanese tour guide who met Wuhan travellers again tests positive

A coronavirus patient in Japan who had been discharged from hospital after recovering has again tested positive, officials said on Thursday, as the country grappled with rising unhappiness over the slow pace of virus testing.

The woman, a tour guide in her 40s, had been treated at a hospital in Osaka prefecture and left early in February, NHK reported.

She was on a bus carrying tourists from Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus outbreak originated last December.

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The woman tested positive on January 29 and was discharged after being confirmed to be virus-free on February 6, NHK World reported.

But on February 19, she felt throat and chest pain. She took a second test and was confirmed with the Covid-19 disease again.

The case came a day after Japan’s health ministry on Wednesday defended its cautious approach to coronavirus testing.

The country has recorded 186 cases of the Covid-19 disease, separate from the 705 cases on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. Eight people have died, including four from the vessel.

The health ministry said the crew of the cruise liner would begin disembarking on Thursday.

About 240 crew members will stay at the National Tax College in Wako, Saitama prefecture, near Tokyo for further monitoring by doctors, and can leave the facility if testing negative for the virus, the ministry said.

The ship was carrying 3,700 passengers and crew from 56 countries and regions when it arrived in Yokohama this month. Most of the passengers disembarked last week and some crew members left Japan with the help of their governments.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday that the government would ask all elementary, junior high and high schools to close from March 2 until spring break, typically around the end of March.

The measure affects 12.8 million students at 34,847 schools nationwide, the education ministry said.

The northern island of Hokkaido, the most affected area in Japan with 38 cases.

“We know that this virus will only spread even more and yet we can’t even get tested,” said one mother in Hokkaido’s Sapporo city, adding she hoped testing capacity would be expanded.

Government guidelines said people should call designated hotlines for consultation on whether they should get tested if they have cold-like symptoms, a fever of 37.5 Celsius or extreme tiredness or breathing problems for four days or more. In the meantime, they should stay at home.

The elderly, pregnant women or those with certain medical conditions that put them at risk should make the call if they have such symptoms for two or more days, the guidelines said.

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“The most important goal of testing is to test those with symptoms, especially the elderly or those with pre-existing conditions who are at risk of becoming seriously ill,” a health ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“I think there are people who are worried and want to be tested but … that would overwhelm the capacity of medical facilities and we couldn’t treat those who need treatment.”

Japan Medical Association President Yoshitake Yokokura told a news conference the group would investigate reports that people referred by doctors to local health centres for tests were being turned away due to manpower shortages, NHK said.

Grilled in parliament by opposition party leader Yukio Edano, Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said that 6,300 tests were conducted from February 18 to 24 for an average of 900 per day, while up to 3,800 tests could be done daily.

“There are many people who say they cannot be tested although their fever continues,” Edano said. “Our country’s resources are not being fully mobilised.”

Kato said the central government would need to review patient lists and keep tabs on the condition of those previously discharged.

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Masahiro Kami, a doctor and head of the non-profit Medical Governance Research Institute, said the government should test more people sooner to prevent deaths.

“They should test early and treat early but instead they are testing after people have pneumonia to confirm the virus,” Kami said.

But some other independent experts agreed with the government approach.

“It isn’t good to do tests just to ease public anxiety,” said Kentaro Iwata, an infectious disease specialist at Kobe University who this month criticised Japan’s handling of the virus-hit cruise liner.

“If they test everyone with light symptoms, the medical system will puncture,” he said, adding authorities needed to do more to explain the guidelines and gain public understanding.