#3586
Medium Database Find covid recovery patients
Database
41.2% acceptance
Feb 27, 2026
49
7
Table: patients
+-------------+---------+
| Column Name | Type |
+-------------+---------+
| patient_id | int |
| patient_name| varchar |
| age | int |
+-------------+---------+
patient_id is the unique identifier for this table.
Each row contains information about a patient.
Table: covid_tests
+-------------+---------+
| Column Name | Type |
+-------------+---------+
| test_id | int |
| patient_id | int |
| test_date | date |
| result | varchar |
+-------------+---------+
test_id is the unique identifier for this table.
Each row represents a COVID test result. The result can be Positive, Negative, or Inconclusive.
Write a solution to find patients who have recovered from COVID - patients who tested positive but later tested negative.
A patient is considered recovered if they have at least one Positive test followed by at least one Negative test on a later date
Calculate the recovery time in days as the difference between the first positive test and the first negative test after that positive test
Only include patients who have both positive and negative test results
Return the result table ordered by recovery_time in ascending order, then by patient_name in ascending order.
The result format is in the following example.
Solution
SQL
#
# Table: patients
# +-------------+---------+
# | Column Name | Type |
# +-------------+---------+
# | patient_id | int |
# | patient_name| varchar |
# | age | int |
# +-------------+---------+
# patient_id is the unique identifier for this table.
# Each row contains information about a patient.
# Table: covid_tests
# +-------------+---------+
# | Column Name | Type |
# +-------------+---------+
# | test_id | int |
# | patient_id | int |
# | test_date | date |
# | result | varchar |
# +-------------+---------+
# test_id is the unique identifier for this table.
# Each row represents a COVID test result. The result can be Positive, Negative, or Inconclusive.
# Write a solution to find patients who have recovered from COVID - patients who tested positive but later tested negative.
# A patient is considered recovered if they have at least one Positive test followed by at least one Negative test on a later date
# Calculate the recovery time in days as the difference between the first positive test and the first negative test after that positive test
# Only include patients who have both positive and negative test results
# Return the result table ordered by recovery_time in ascending order, then by patient_name in ascending order.
# The result format is in the following example.
# Example:
# Input:
# patients table:
# +------------+--------------+-----+
# | patient_id | patient_name | age |
# +------------+--------------+-----+
# | 1 | Alice Smith | 28 |
# | 2 | Bob Johnson | 35 |
# | 3 | Carol Davis | 42 |
# | 4 | David Wilson | 31 |
# | 5 | Emma Brown | 29 |
# +------------+--------------+-----+
# covid_tests table:
# +---------+------------+------------+--------------+
# | test_id | patient_id | test_date | result |
# +---------+------------+------------+--------------+
# | 1 | 1 | 2023-01-15 | Positive |
# | 2 | 1 | 2023-01-25 | Negative |
# | 3 | 2 | 2023-02-01 | Positive |
# | 4 | 2 | 2023-02-05 | Inconclusive |
# | 5 | 2 | 2023-02-12 | Negative |
# | 6 | 3 | 2023-01-20 | Negative |
# | 7 | 3 | 2023-02-10 | Positive |
# | 8 | 3 | 2023-02-20 | Negative |
# | 9 | 4 | 2023-01-10 | Positive |
# | 10 | 4 | 2023-01-18 | Positive |
# | 11 | 5 | 2023-02-15 | Negative |
# | 12 | 5 | 2023-02-20 | Negative |
# +---------+------------+------------+--------------+
# Output:
# +------------+--------------+-----+---------------+
# | patient_id | patient_name | age | recovery_time |
# +------------+--------------+-----+---------------+
# | 1 | Alice Smith | 28 | 10 |
# | 3 | Carol Davis | 42 | 10 |
# | 2 | Bob Johnson | 35 | 11 |
# +------------+--------------+-----+---------------+
# Explanation:
# Alice Smith (patient_id = 1):
# First positive test: 2023-01-15
# First negative test after positive: 2023-01-25
# Recovery time: 25 - 15 = 10 days
# Bob Johnson (patient_id = 2):
# First positive test: 2023-02-01
# Inconclusive test on 2023-02-05 (ignored for recovery calculation)
# First negative test after positive: 2023-02-12
# Recovery time: 12 - 1 = 11 days
# Carol Davis (patient_id = 3):
# Had negative test on 2023-01-20 (before positive test)
# First positive test: 2023-02-10
# First negative test after positive: 2023-02-20
# Recovery time: 20 - 10 = 10 days
# Patients not included:
# David Wilson (patient_id = 4): Only has positive tests, no negative test after positive
# Emma Brown (patient_id = 5): Only has negative tests, never tested positive
# Output table is ordered by recovery_time in ascending order, and then by patient_name in ascending order.
#
# Write your MySQL query statement below
SELECT p.patient_id, p.patient_name, p.age,
DATEDIFF(
(SELECT MIN(test_date) FROM covid_tests
WHERE patient_id = p.patient_id AND result = 'Negative'
AND test_date > (SELECT MIN(test_date) FROM covid_tests WHERE patient_id = p.patient_id AND result = 'Positive')),
(SELECT MIN(test_date) FROM covid_tests WHERE patient_id = p.patient_id AND result = 'Positive')
) AS recovery_time
FROM patients p
WHERE p.patient_id IN (SELECT DISTINCT patient_id FROM covid_tests WHERE result = 'Positive')
AND p.patient_id IN (SELECT DISTINCT patient_id FROM covid_tests WHERE result = 'Negative')
AND (SELECT MIN(test_date) FROM covid_tests WHERE patient_id = p.patient_id AND result = 'Negative'
AND test_date > (SELECT MIN(test_date) FROM covid_tests WHERE patient_id = p.patient_id AND result = 'Positive')) IS NOT NULL
ORDER BY recovery_time ASC, patient_name ASC;