A total of 277 patients in the country were believed to have fallen ill for a second time, as had patients in China and Japan.
South Korea’s CDC found that the test results for the suspected relapsed patients were false positives & warned the test it used was not able to distinguish b/t live traces of the virus & harmless dead samples which remain after patients have recovered.
“This means it does not cause chronic infection or recurrence,” explained Dr Oh Myoung-don, the head of the CDC committee, meaning it is unlikely for patients to relapse in this fashion.
In the future it could be possible that the coronavirus mutates and infects people who have previously overcome it, similarly to the flu.
https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-scientists-conclude-people-cannot-be-infected-twice-11981721