LAUSR

Case reports of patients with coronavirus disease‐2019 (COVID‐19) who have been discharged and subsequently report positive reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction again (hereafter referred as “re‐positive”) do not fully describe the magnitude and significance of this issue. To determine the re‐positive rate (proportion) and review probable causes and outcomes, we conduct a retrospective study of all 119 discharged patients in Brunei Darussalam up till April 23. Patients who were discharged are required to self‐isolate at home for 14 days and undergo nasopharyngeal specimen collection postdischarge. Discharged patients found to be re‐positive were readmitted. We reviewed the clinical and epidemiological records of all discharged patients and apply log‐binomial models to obtain risk ratios for re‐positive status. One in five recovered patients subsequently test positive again for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2—this risk is more than six times higher in persons aged 60 years and above. The average Ct value of re‐positive patients was lower predischarge compared with their readmission Ct value. Out of 111 close contacts tested, none were found to be positive as a result of exposure to a re‐positive patient. Our findings support prolonged but intermittent viral shedding as the probable cause for this phenomenon. We did not observe infectivity potential in these patients.