There Are Now 24 Recovered Migrant Workers Who Have Tested Positive for COVID-19 Again

You’ve probably heard of the other sole dorm case last week, which was identified in the same workers’ dormitory as the current growing cluster.

The migrant worker who tested positive for the coronavirus on Monday (26 Apr) lives at Westlite Woodlands dormitory. The authorities believe the 35-year-old Bangladeshi contracted the virus abroad.

Just yesterday (27 Apr), the Ministry of Health (MOH) reported that 24 recovered foreign workers at Westlite had tested positive for COVID-19, with five likely to be reinfections.

This group of workers were living in the same room as another earlier dorm case (Case 62181), who was a construction supervisor, and thus were infected with the virus.

MOH reassured that there is “currently no evidence of transmission to the rest of the dormitory.”

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM), alongside MOH, had also conducted a special testing operation to test the residents of the dormitory as part of their investigations into the Bangladeshi construction supervisor’s case.

They found that two of the reinfected individuals had been to Bangladesh and arrived back in Singapore on 6 April. They are part of the seven-case cluster linked to the construction supervisor and his roommate.

MOH added that their “epidemiological investigations found that [the reinfected workers] were likely to have been infected while overseas, and passed the infection to the others in the room.”

The Beginning Of the Westlite Woodlands Dormitory Cluster

So, how did it all begin?

On 20 April, news shocked many Singaporeans that a migrant worker, who had completed his full two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, was infected with the virus.

On 16 April, the 35-year-old developed a runny nose but did not report his symptoms.

Fortunately, the Ministry of Health (MOH) happened to be carrying out rostered routine testing that day and tested the man.

His pooled result came back positive on 18 April for COVID-19 and he was immediately isolated and taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).

Another test was done the next day, which also came back positive.

He was Case 62181 and had transmitted the virus to his roommate, who was Case 62225.

This prompted MOH and MOM to commence their special testing operation to identify infected workers in the dorm, including those who had recovered from the virus. This leads us to the seven-person cluster today.

The most recent case on Monday (26 Apr) saw another 35-year-old Bangladeshi worker testing positive for the coronavirus.

He is believed to not be linked to the above cluster as he had no interaction with them.

The work permit holder was in Bangladesh from 17 February to 21 December last year, after which he returned to Singapore and served a stay-home notice (SHN) at a dedicated facility from 21 December to 4 January.

A swab test on 1 January came back negative, as did the several tests he subsequently took as part of rostered routine testing.

The last of these tests was on 20 April.

Two days later, the man was quarantined as part of the precautionary measures taken following the detection of another case in his dormitory.

Then, on 23 April, the man was tested and this time the result came back positive. He was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).

Curiously, the man then tested negative just two days later.

The authorities believe he was infected while overseas and that he’s now shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA which are no longer transmissible and infective to others.

This theory is supported by his serology test result, which came back positive and indicates a past infection.

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