The 18-year-old student from the UK who was the first person to test positive for Covid-19 in Bengal on March 17 has tested positive again for the virus, an official of the health department said.

The samples for a second round of tests were collected on Saturday and the report arrived on Sunday.

The brother of the 22-year-old youth who was the second person in the state to test positive for the coronavirus was discharged from the Infectious Diseases and Beleghata General Hospital on Monday, the official said.

The brother tested negative but their parents and a help of the family have tested positive for Covid-19.

The parents and the help, like the 22-year-old, are in isolation ward of the Beleghata hospital.

The youth, like the first Covid-19 patient of the state, tested positive after arriving in the city from the UK.

“The treatment protocol issued by the Union health ministry says a person who has tested positive can be discharged from hospital only if he is negative in two successive tests conducted within 48 hours,” the health department official said.

“It is the doctor’s discretion when to collect samples for tests. If the doctor feels the patient is recovering well, she/he may ask for tests to be done. If two successive tests give negative results, the patient can be discharged,” the official said.

But the protocol for discharge for a contact of a positive person is different. “The contact can be discharged if the first tests results are negative,” the official said.

Admitted

A man who works abroad as a chef and arrived in Calcutta recently was admitted to the Infectious Diseases and Beleghata General Hospital on Monday. His reports are “inconclusive”. Samples were sent for another round of tests.