Persistent viral infectivity after 27 days from COVID-19 symptoms onset

Abstract

The persistence of SARS-CoV- 2 in pharyngeal swabs belonging to patients affected by COVID-19 is not a rare occurrence. Indeed, the viral load determined through real-time reverse-transcriptase PCR (rRT-PCR) test peaks at the onset of symptoms and decreases to undetectable level within 1–3 weeks