Aiming to understand viral shedding after discharge, researchers in Loudi, China tested viral presence in 60 patients previously hospitalized with Covid-19 and discharged before February 27th, 2020. Patients were tested for SARS-CoV-2 through RT-PCR of nasopharyngeal and anal swab specimens, resulting in positive tests in 10 patients, two of which had clinical symptoms and were readmitted. The time between discharge and positive retests ranged from 4 to 24 days. Positive tests are presumed to be the result of continued viral shedding rather than reinfection, as all participants were instructed to isolate and local cases were rare. The authors highlighted one case with a positive test result confirmed 56 days after initial illness onset. These findings align with previous studies demonstrating long-term shedding of the virus in faeces, although infectivity is unknown. The authors suggest subsequent studies include larger cohorts and perform testing for infectivity, to understand how this could inform disease management after discharge.