Coronavirus, are 15 days of isolation really enough to go outside again? “I'm still positive after 30 days” | VIDEO
The Italian TV reporter Alessandro Politi, who works for the TV show “Le Iene”, has been tested positive for coronavirus and 30 days later he is still positive despite the symptoms disappeared very soon. “How many people could be COVID-19 positive, but have never managed to get tested?”. Are 15 days of isolation really enough in order to safely go outside?
The Italian journalist Alessandro Politi is still positive for coronavirus after one moth from the time he had his first test. Politi works as a reporter for the Italian TV show “Le Iene”, a program based on reportage and investigative journalism.
On air since 1997, at the beginning of March the show had to stop for the first time ever because Politi resulted positive for coronavirus. After 30 days the journalist decided to speak publicly to tell what happened during this period and that despite having had no symptoms for 28 days, he is still positive. “I wonder how many people could be COVID-19 positive, but have never managed to get tested?”. The key point is: for people who didn’t take the test but had symptoms, are 15 days of isolation from the end of the symptoms really enough to safely go outside again?
“March 7th I woke up with a fever of 38.5, a strong headache, and sore throat” explains the reporter. “After many attempts, I managed to be tested, because as a reporter I am in contact with hundreds of people every day”. The result was clear: positive to COVID-19, the now well-known Coronavirus.
“I came home from the hospital, my temperature went up, I took paracetamol and it went away. The next morning I woke up with a fever 37.3 and by the third day I was already ok: my symptoms disappeared”, tells the reporter. “Without the test results, I would’ve thought it was just the regular flu”.
After the mandatory 15 days of quarantine, it’s time to get retested: you must test negative twice to be considered recovered. “I was already ok, symptoms had disappeared, but after 15 days since my first positive test I was positive once again”.
“I waited ten more days and on April 3rd I was tested for the third time” Alessandro explains. “Almost one month without symptoms, and I’m still fully positive. I asked the doctors if it was common and they hypothesized that I may have taken a more aggressive viral load. Fortunately, my body is managing it well, but it takes longer to eradicate it”.
It is at this point that Alessandro started wondering: "According to WHO directives you are safe to others, after 15 days from the end of symptoms but I am still testing positive so many days later. Could there not be many more people out there, who unlike me, were unable to be tested but just assumed that after 15 days free from symptoms were free to go shopping and go to the pharmacy? Could this be the reason why so many people are still getting infected? Could it be that the 15-day rule needs to be re-examined?”.
“The evolution of this disease is widely variable”, says Professor Massimo Bassetti, director of the Infectious disease clinic in Genoa. “At San Martino hospital we check the test 21 days after the disease has appeared: the majority of cases haven't recovered within 14 days. There is a percentage of patients who are still positive with no symptoms even after three weeks”.
“Many cases have to be investigated”, says Professor Galli from Sacco hospital in Milan. “This will be of key importance to set the rules for the return to normality”.