Philippine Interior Minister Eduardo Ano tested positive for the coronavirus five months after being diagnosed with the disease, authorities said on Monday, trying to determine if he was re-infected.
Eduardo Ano, who is very involved in the archipelago's response to the coronavirus, announced that he tested positive on Saturday after feeling symptoms last week.
He had been diagnosed with Covid-19 in March, without showing any symptoms at the time.
Question on the duration of immunity
People infected with the coronavirus usually start to develop antibodies a week after infection or the onset of symptoms, according to some studies.
But scientists still don't know whether the body systematically builds enough immunity to fend off another attack of the virus, and if so, for how long that immunity lasts.
Some studies suggest that some patients recovered from the coronavirus could lose their immunity in a matter of months or even weeks.
"Don't call it a reinfection"
Philippine Under Secretary for Health Maria Rosario Vergeire said experts were analyzing the symptoms presented by Eduardo Ano, his first positive test and the lab results to see if it was a second infection.
“Don't call it reinfection. The scientific community has not determined whether re-infections could occur, ”said Maria Rosario Vergeire.
More than 160,000 cases in the archipelago
Eduardo Ano had been tested ahead of a meeting scheduled for Monday with President Rodrigo Duterte and other officials to decide on the possible extension of the confinement ordered two weeks ago in Manila and surrounding provinces.
The archipelago has experienced an increase in contamination in recent weeks. It officially totals more than 160,000 cases and 2,600 deaths due to Covid-19.
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