• Zhiwei Yang, Mingxue Yu, Ganwen Li, Xiaoling Dai, Guirong Liu, Jinjun Xie, Gang Li, and Yusheng Jie.
• Clin Lab. 2020 Dec 1; 66 (12).

BackgroundCoronavirus disease (COVID-19) has affected more than 100 countries worldwide and the discharge criteria of patients with COVID-19 vary across different countries. In China, patients with two negative respiratory viral RNA tests taken at least one day apart can be discharged with no further quarantine required. Currently, PCR testing of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in fecal sample is not routinely performed.MethodsWe present a patient with COVID-19, whose respiratory swabs became negative but fecal sample remained positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA.ResultsStool sample collected on 27th of February was still positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA, 24 days after the first negative respiratory swab.ConclusionsBased on the experience from the 2003 SARS epidemic, we recommend that fecal RNA testing of SARS-CoV-2 should be incorporated into the discharge criteria to minimize the risk of transmission from the gastrointestinal tract.

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