93-year-old S. Korean virus patient recovers, returns home

Paramedics transfer a COVID-19 patient at a nursing home in Gyeongsan City, North Gyeongsang Province on Saturday. (Yonhap) via The Korea Herald

SEOUL — A COVID-19 patient in her 90s returned home over the weekend after making a full recovery and became the oldest person in South Korea to have recovered from the deadly virus, a government official said Monday.

The woman, 93, is the oldest among approximately 3,100 people here who had been declared clear of the virus as of Monday at 12:01 a.m.

The patient returned home Saturday, after 13 days of treatment at a medical facility in Seoul.

“She is the eldest patient to have recovered from COVID-19. I understand she had symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease but did not have other underlying illness,” a Gyeongsan City official said.

She was transferred to the facility two days after testing positive for the virus earlier this month at a nursing home in Gyeongsan City, North Gyeongsang Province, according to a city official.

Though she tested negative for the virus on March 10 and 12, she was treated with antibiotics due to symptoms of pneumonia.

As of Monday at 12:01 a.m. Korea had reported 8,961 cases of COVID-19 and 111 deaths, with another 3,166 patients having been discharged from isolation upon recovery, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.