Fears in Russia that head of Tuva region has been re-infected with coronavirus - news follows similar case in Hong Kong

The leader of Siberia's remote Tuva Republic has been flown to Moscow for treatment after apparently becoming infected with Covid-19 for the second time. He was initially diagnosed with coronavirus in early summer.

Sholban Kara-ool said that this time the symptoms of the disease are different, complaining of a splitting headache, rather than the chest discomfort he experienced the first time round. "I am once again here, in an infectious diseases hospital. It’s Covid-19 once again. I am ill for a second time," Kara-ool said in a video uploaded to his official page on the VKontakte social network, and also shared on Instagram.

"Maybe, my workload prevented antibodies, immunity from developing after the first infection," he wrote. During the previous hospitalization, the region’s chief was discharged from hospital on June 4. Kara-ool said that he was sure that it was impossible to get sick with coronavirus a second time, but "apparently, this self-confidence let me down.”

The first confirmed case of Covid-19 re-infection was reported on Tuesday by scientists at the University of Hong Kong. According to their research, the patient has been affected with a different strain of coronavirus, rather than the one he contracted a few months earlier. The first time the patient had mild symptoms, but they are more severe in the second instance.

So far, 966,189 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 779,747 patients having recovered from the disease, and 16,568 deaths, according to official figures.

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