Biana Dobroiu was hospitalised in the Sant’Orsola hospital in the city of Bologna, in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, on February 28 with a fever of 40.7C and diagnosed with COVID-19 on the same day. She was discharged on March 6 and told to stay isolated at home as non-serious coronavirus cases were not being treated in hospitals at the time.
Ms Dobroiu, who is a student and model, remained in isolation and continued undergoing regular testing, giving four positive results and one unclear result. Her sixth test last week was also positive, six weeks after her initial diagnosis, and the hospital’s infection expert, Luciano Attard, said the patient was fine, but the tests kept on coming back positive.
“We are studying her case carefully. As far as we are concerned, nobody else in Italy has tested positive for so long. In general, positive results last no longer than four weeks,” he said. Ms Dobroiu said she did not have any symptoms or underlying conditions, so she is not too concerned by the results.
The 23-year-old added she was looking forward to going outside to have a walk and take in some fresh air as she remained at home with her mother who had tested negative three times. According to the latest figures from the Johns Hopkins University, Italy has registered 189,973 cases of COVID-19 and 25,549 deaths, while about 57,000 have recovered.
