OSAKA: A bus tour conductor in her 40s tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus after what appeared a recovery from the disease, the Osaka prefectural government said Wednesday.

The resident of Osaka, the capital of the western Japan prefecture, may have been reinfected, or the virus may have regained strength in her body after going latent, officials said.

The woman was confirmed infected Jan. 29 after attending a tour that included visitors from China's Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.

After her condition improved, she was discharged from hospital Feb. 1. She tested negative through a screening she voluntarily took on Feb. 6 during a monitoring period.

On Feb. 19, she felt discomfort in the throat and had chest pain. She then visited more than once the medical institution where she had been hospitalized.

She tested positive Wednesday and was hospitalized again. She had no close contact with anybody after the Feb. 1 discharge, according to the officials.

"The virus that went latent in the body may have come back," said Mutsuko Fujii, head of the prefectural government's health and medical department.

It appears that there was not enough virus on her throat when she tested negative, Fujii told a press conference.

JIJI Press