Sole Community Case on 26 March Could be a Past Infection; Was Tested Negative Last Month

On 26 Mar 2021, Singapore reported 12 new COVID-19 cases.

11 of them are imported cases while the remaining case is a community case, breaking our streak of 13-community-case-free day.

In the evening of the same day, the Ministry of Health (MOH) released more details about the day’s report.

Here’s what you need to know.

Sole Community Case on 26 March Could be a Past Infection; Was Tested Negative Last Month

Case 61184 is a 26-year-old Myanmar national.

She is a foreign domestic worker and arrived in Singapore from Myanmar on 23 Jan 2021.

She served SHN at a dedicated facility until 6 Feb and her test, which was taken on 5 Feb, returned negative for COVID-19.

After her SHN, she was shifted to a boarding house for FDW while waiting for deployment and stayed until 23 Mar.

On 23 Mar, she started work at her employer’s residence.

On the same night, however, she developed a cough and runny nose and sought medical help at a GP clinic the next day.

At the clinic, she was tested for COVID-19 and her results returned positive, and she was sent to NCID.

On 25 Mar 2021, when the National Public Health Laboratory conducted another test, she tested negative.

Her serological test result, however, came back positive, indicating that it’s likely a past infection.

She could’ve been shedding fragments of the virus RNA from a past infection, MOH says.

It added that they’ll keep an eye on the situation closely and will take “all the necessary public health actions”.

Epidemiological investigations are ongoing and all identified close contacts of the case have been isolated and placed on quarantine.

This includes the people at her employer’s residence and the boarding house.

The Remaining 11 Cases

The remaining 11 cases came from a variety of countries.

They include:

• 2 Singaporeans who returned from Qatar and the UAE
• 1 work pass holder from the Philippines
• 6 work permit holders from Bangladesh, India and the Philippines
• 1 student’s pass holder who came to Singapore from India for studies
• and 1 short-term visit pass holder who came from Romania for an eSport event

Overall Situation in S’pore

17 more cases were discharged, bringing Singapore’s fully-recovered patients to 60,103.

There are still 27 cases in the hospital, with most of them in stable or improving conditions, and one case in the ICU.

Another 105 are isolated and being cared for at community facilities.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased from none (the week before) to 1 (over the past week).

The number of unlinked cases has similarly increased from 0 to 1.

30 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection.

Feature Image: kandl stock / Shutterstock.com