Coronavirus Could Stay In The Gut: CUHK Study

Chinese University researchers have sounded a warning on the Covid-19 virus staying in the body and people remaining infectious, even though they've been cleared of the virus in their respiratory samples.

Researchers said on Monday the virus could stay in the gut for a prolonged period in patients who may appear to have recovered. That means discharged patients and their caretakers will have to remain vigilant and observe strict personal hygiene at home.

In their study, members of the university's faculty of medicine examined stool samples of 15 local coronavirus patients between February and April. They found that three people displayed gut infection – but did not show symptoms – up to six days after the virus was cleared from their respiratory samples.

Professor Paul Chan, chairman of the Department of Microbiology and associate director of the Centre for Gut Microbiota Research at CUHK, offered this piece of advice. "Your personal hygiene, especially in the toilet, is very important and all the (contaminated) areas should be cleaned with proper disinfectant."

And there are calls for the government to conduct Covid-19 stool tests on young children ahead of the resumption of schools later this month.

Researchers say stool tests are safe, non-invasive and generally very accurate in picking up the virus in people who may be asymptomatic.

The university said it's set up a centre that will assist the government in providing testing for those who have difficulty following instructions and whose samples could be hard to collect, such as babies, toddlers and the elderly.

It said the centre can deal with up to 2,000 samples a day.

Professor Siew Chien Ng, associate director of the Centre for Gut Microbiota Research, said the university has offered free stool tests to more than 2,000 children arriving in Hong Kong at the airport since March. Some samples were found to contain the coronavirus even though the children were asymptomatic.