Sole Community Case on 3 Feb Might Be Reclassified as Imported Case After Further Test

On 3 Feb, 18 new Covid-19 cases were reported.

17 are imported cases while the sole remaining case is a community transmission case.

However, this isn’t set in stone, and depending on one further test, 3 Feb might report no local transmission case instead.

Sole Community Case on 3 Feb Might Be Reclassified as Imported Case After Further Test

According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), the sole community case reported on 3 Feb is a 35-year-old long-term visit pass holder from India.

She had travelled to India on 30 Nov 2020.

Before returning to Singapore, she took a pre-departure Covid-19 test on 4 Jan 2021 and her result returned negative.

Upon arrival, she served her Stay-Home-Notice (SHN) between 6 Jan and 20 Jan 2021 and tested negative again for the Covid-19 test on 17 Jan 2021.

She was detected only after undergoing a pre-departure Covid-19 test on 2 Feb in preparation for her return flight to India and was promptly sent to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

The woman was an asymptomatic case.

However, depending on her serological results, she might be reclassified.

MOH says that should her serological test return positive (meaning it was likely a past infection), and epidemiological investigations determine it to be a past infection, she would be reclassified as an imported case.

All her identified close contacts, including family members, were all isolated and placed on quarantine.

They’ll be tested at the start and end of their quarantine in case of asymptomatic cases.

For those who are confused, think of it this way:

The classification simply indicates where she was infected.

If it’s a past infection, and no links were discovered, it means that she could’ve been infected before coming to Singapore and wasn’t detected due to the virus’s incubation period.

According to WHO, the incubation period of Covid-19 is, on average, 5 to 6 days, but it can last as long as 14 days.

17 Imported Cases

On 3 Feb 2021, 17 imported cases were reported.

This group consists of one permanent resident and a work pass holder from India, fourteen work permit holders from Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia, and one sea crew member from Indonesia.

Out of the fourteen work permit holders, nine are foreign domestic workers (FDWs).

All of them tested positive while serving SHN or in isolation.

Overall Covid-19 Situation in S’pore

The total number of Covid-19 cases, with the addition of cases from 3 Feb, has increased to 59,602.

With 19 more cases discharged on 3 Feb, 59,305 patients here have fully recovered from the disease.

There are another 39 cases still hospitalised, with 214 patients being cared for at Community Care Facilities.

29 have died due to Covid-19 complications, while 15 others who tested positive for the virus died of other causes.

The number of unlinked community cases increased from 1 case the week before to 3 cases in the past week.

It’s not all bad, though, because the number of new cases in the community has decreased from 5 cases in the week before to 4 cases over the past week.

That doesn’t mean you can let down your guard, though, because experts are predicting a spike in the number of community cases after the Chinese New Year.

On a separate note, did you know that we now have a second Covid-19 vaccine to use?

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