A previously healthy 46-year-old man presented with a 7-day history of fever, dry cough, and mild dyspnea. On examination, he was febrile, mildly tachypneic, tachycardic, but maintained oxygen saturation on room air. His chest X-ray revealed consolidation involving the left mid and lower zones. SARS-CoV-2 PCR tested positive, and he was started on COVID-19 management for pneumonia following local protocols. The repeated PCR tests were persistently positive for 47 days. The patient was discharged home, asymptomatic after negative PCR.
The first case is a 74-year-old man known to have asthma, diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension (HTN), coronary artery disease (CAD), and dyslipidemia (). He was admitted to a quarantine facility because of an asymptomatic COVID-19 infection identified through screening (RT-PCR). The local guideline at the time warranted two negative PCR swabs before discharge. SARS-CoV-2 was repeatedly positive for 49 days. He showed clinical improvement and was discharged after negative results ().