Health experts in South Korea are addressing the nation’s growing incidence of former coronavirus patients who have retested positive for the disease after having previously recovered. According to Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, figures published Wednesday indicated that 292 people countrywide had tested positive for the respiratory illness since initially contracting it and later testing negative, suggesting conceivable recovery from infection. However, discussing the upward trend in positive retests during a recent news conference, officials from KCDC’s clinical committee for emerging disease control said the pattern does not necessarily reflect a reoccurrence of active infection.

Committee head Oh Myoung-don instead attributed positive test results following recovery to “dead,” or inactive, virus components still present in patients’ cells, multiple outlets based in South Korea reported on Wednesday.

“RNA fragments still can exist in a cell even if the virus is inactivated,” Oh said during the conference, according to government-funded media organization Yonhap News Agency. “It is more likely that those who tested positive again picked up virus RNA that has already been inactivated,” he continued, going on to explain that the coronavirus’ biological interactions with human DNA strands show its lack of ability to “create chronic infections.”

Still, concerns over South Korea’s growing number of positive retests have circulated throughout April, as the number of second-time diagnoses among “recovered” individuals has steadily risen. Less than two weeks ago, KCDC reported that 163 patients had tested positive for the virus again following recovery and subsequent discharge from isolation. At the time, repeat diagnoses accounted for slightly more than 2 percent of the country’s recovered population. On Wednesday, approximately 2.7 percent of previously recovered adults had tested positive for the coronavirus a second time, as well as 3.4 percent of children.

KCDC shared preliminary findings of an investigation into the retests on April 17, saying the average time between a recovered coronavirus patient’s discharge and positive test result was roughly 13.5 days, with an overall range of one to 35 days. Of 137 cases studied, KCDC reported that 61 patients showed mild symptoms, 72 were asymptomatic and four were still being explored. The disease control center also said there were no secondary infections identified in any successive cases.

By Sunday, South Korea had confirmed 263 cases of positive test results in formerly recovered coronavirus patients, and KCDC said its investigation remained ongoing.

“Contact tracing on these re-positive cases is also underway to identify possibility of secondary infection,” its April 26 report read. “No new case has yet been confirmed that resulted from exposure to the re-positive cases (during the period in which they were re-positive). The contacts are still under monitoring.”

As of Wednesday morning, 10,761 coronavirus cases and 246 resulting deaths had been confirmed across South Korea, according to Johns Hopkins University’s tracker. Reports from its Department of Health as well as KCDC show less than 15 people have tested positive for the first time each day since April 19.

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Most Americans would rather see former Vice President Joe Biden in charge of both the U.S. coronavirus response and the economy than current President Donald Trump, according to data from a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll.

However, while Biden may have the upper hand in polling in those areas, the results fall strongly along party lines. Out of those surveyed, 55 percent of those surveyed chose Biden over Trump to handle the coronavirus pandemic. While 40 percent of those polled said they would rather see Trump handling coronavirus issues in the U.S., 87 percent of those who supported Trump in that arena identified themselves as Republicans. Likewise, 87 percent of Biden’s supporters labeled themselves as Democrats.

Although Trump has taken credit for creating a strong U.S. economy before the essential lockdown of the country due to the coronavirus, only 44 percent of those polled say they would rather see Trump handle the economy. A little over half would rather see Biden take the economic reins, garnering 51 percent of the poll. Those who were unsure about which candidate they would choose numbered 6 percent.

Democrats made up the majority of Biden’s support for handling the economy with 86 percent throwing the presumptive Democratic nominee their support. However, 92 percent of the Republicans polled wanted Trump to handle the economy with only 7 percent of Republican voters leaning toward Biden.

Newsweek reached out to both the Biden and Trump campaigns for comment.

Overall, 48 percent of Americans disapproved of how Trump is handling the economy. That represents a 3 percent increase of March’s poll when 45 percent of those polled indicated they did not approve.

Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic garnered a larger jump in the disapproval rating. While 49 percent of those surveyed voiced their disapproval in the March poll, 55 percent now say they do not approve of Trump’s response to the virus, a 6 percent increase.

Biden suggested during a Monday interview with CBS Miami that he would take a more global approach to economic matters.

“I would get much more engaged in the world,” Biden said. “We can’t step back. If in fact, for example we solve the problem in the United States of America and you don’t solve it in other parts of the world, you know what’s going to happen?”

“You’re going to have travel bans,” Biden explained. “You’re going to not be able to do, have economic intercourse around the world. When it’s America first, it’s America alone.”

Although stay-at-home orders issued by state governors have impacted businesses, forcing many to temporarily close or shut down completely, Trump has envisioned a rapid rebound for the U.S. economy.

“I think the fourth quarter is going to be really strong,” Trump said Tuesday during a meeting with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, “and I think next year is going to be a tremendous year. That’s what’s building. Third quarter is a transition quarter. Second quarter is what it is.”

Business closures forced the U.S. gross domestic product to fall at an annual rate of 4.8 percent for the first quarter of 2020, which represents the first decrease in the GDP since 2014.

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New York Attorney General Letitia James has condemned President Donald Trump for suggesting that federal assistance to states hard-hit by the coronavirus outbreak could be tied to whether or not they are willing to adjust their sanctuary policies.

Trump made the suggestion on Tuesday, expressing concerns over providing financial support to governments that he feels have managed their states poorly.

“We’re not looking to recover 25 years of bad management and give them the money that they lost,” Trump said at a White House news conference. “That’s unfair to other states.”

While the president said he was open to discussing the possibility with states, he said: “We’d want certain things also, including sanctuary-city adjustments.”

Criticizing sanctuary policies, which allow protections for undocumented immigrants, often including rules barring law enforcement from working with federal immigration enforcement, Trump said: “People are being protected that shouldn’t be protected. And a lot of bad things are happening with sanctuary cities.”

“If we’re going to do something for the states, I think we probably want something having to do with sanctuary cities,” Trump said.

With New York having some of the most prominent sanctuary policies, Attorney General Letitia James struck out at Trump for threatening to hold coronavirus aid “hostage.”

“President Trump’s threat to hold coronavirus funding hostage to cities and states across the country are the latest in his efforts to push a sinister political agenda that only aims to punish us all—citizens and non-citizens alike,” James said in a statement shared with Newsweek.

“This is just another attempt to again feed to his base and push the same partisan ideology we’ve seen for the last three years,” James said, noting Trump’s longstanding opposition to sanctuary policies.

“New York is proud of its status as a sanctuary state that welcomes and will fight to protect its immigrant residents—many of whom are fighting on the frontlines to battle the coronavirus,” James asserted.

“It is my sincerest hope that one day the president will wake up and realize the power of his words,” she said, adding: “Until that day comes we will be ready to take legal action.”

It is unclear what form of legal action New York would take if the White House were to try to negotiate changes to the state’s sanctuary policies in order for New York to receive aid from the federal government.

Newsweek has contacted James’ office, as well as the White House, for further comment.

The New York attorney general was not alone in admonishing the president’s threat, with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) also condemning his statements.

“We cannot allow the Trump administration to exploit a public health crisis to further their anti-immigrant agenda,” the ACLU said in a tweet following the president’s comments.

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