Positive RT-PCR tests among discharged COVID-19 patients in Shenzhen, China

To the Editor—According to the current guideline of the National Health Commission of China, discharge of inpatients with the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) infection in China have to fulfill 2 recovery criteria: (1) symptoms disappear and computed tomography (CT) images become normal and (2) test negative for 2 consecutive times in reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests for SARS-CoV-2.1 However, Lan et al1 recently reported 4 cases who were tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 at 5 days after discharge, suggesting positive status among discharged patients.2 To date, the prevalence and associated risk factors remain unclear. Summary of the Characteristics of Study Patients and the Estimated Association Between the Individual Features and RT-PCR Testing Outcomes Throat Swabs Scenario 1 Positive (N = 9) Negative (N = 200) Crude OR Adjusted ORa Sex Male 3 88 0.64 (0.15–2.71) 0.99 (0.27–3.62) Age, y Median (IQR) 32 (28–36) 45 (32–57) 0.97 (0.93–1.00) 0.95 (0.92–0.99) Sampling delay, d Median (IQR) 2 (2–2) 6 (3–7) 0.41 (0.21–0.81) 0.36 (0.18–0.72) Symptoms Dry cough 4 72 1.42 (0.36–5.65) 1.38 (0.44–4.32) Expectoration 2 27 1.83 (0.35–9.67) 3.03 (0.61–15.14) Cough 5 89 1.56 (0.39–6.19) 1.56 (0.52–4.70) Diarrhea 1 9 2.65 (0.28–24.89) 7.01 (0.52–95.40) Anal Swabs Scenario 2 Positive (N = 13) Negative (N = 196) Crude OR Adjusted ORa Sex Male 5 86 0.80 (0.25–2.61) 0.83 (0.28–2.46) Age, y Median (IQR) 25 (6–39) 45 (32–58) 0.95 (0.91–0.98) 0.95 (0.92–0.98) Sampling delay, d Median (IQR) 7 (5–7) 5 (2–7) 1.04 (0.91–1.19) 1.11 (0.97–1.26) Symptoms Dry cough 6 70 1.54 (0.48–4.91) 1.92 (0.65–5.63) Expectoration 3 26 1.96 (0.49–7.87) 3.00 (0.67–13.37) Cough 8 86 2.05 (0.63–6.67) 3.12 (0.97–10.07) Diarrhea 2 8 4.27 (0.78–23.55) 10.44 (1.60–68.16) Either Throat or Anal Swabs Scenario 3 Positive (N=22) Negative (N=187) Crude OR Adjusted ORa Sex Male 8 83 0.72 (0.28–1.83) 0.70 (0.29–1.66) Age, y Median (IQR) 28 (20–38) 46 (32–59) 0.95 (0.93–0.98) 0.95 (0.93–0.98) Sampling delay, d Median (IQR) 4 (2–7) 5 (3–7) 0.90 (0.77–1.05) 0.95 (0.81–1.10) Symptoms Dry cough 10 66 1.53 (0.61–3.81) 1.89 (0.81–4.39) Expectoration 5 24 2.00 (0.66–6.08) 4.00 (1.24–12.88) Cough 13 81 1.89 (0.75–4.75) 2.70 (1.12–6.51) Diarrhea 3 7 4.06 (0.93–17.64) 9.59 (2.02–45.62) Note. Supplementary material To view supplementary material for this article, please visit https://doi.org/10.1017/ice.2020.134 Acknowledgments We thank the Luohu Center for Disease Control (CDC), Futian CDC, Baoan CDC,