A second test conducted in a New Zealand lab for coronavirus in Tonga has returned negative result, the Minister of Health has announced.
The revelation came after a first test, of sample taken from the same patient, was conducted by the Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory in Australia last week was negative or non reactive.
As Kaniva News reported last week, a 21-year-old Tongan woman who had recently returned to Tonga after being in Sydney was isolated at Vaiola Hospital after showing signs of coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Australia has 22 cases of coronavirus in New South Wales alone. Two Australians have died from the illness – one in New South Wales and another in Perth.
The Prime Minister previously said it was World Health Organisation’s procedure to do a second confirmation test on every suspected patient so the government sent the sample to New Zealand on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the total number of cases worldwide neared 120,000 by Wednesday morning, with more than 80,000 in China and more than 10,000 in Italy. Both Iran and South Korea now have around 8,000 confirmed cases and other nations are suggesting they will reach similar levels soon.