Hougang All Saints Home Underwent Cleaning After Staff Member Tested Positive for COVID-19


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After a staff member tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday (12 June), All Saints Home in Hougang was cleaned and disinfected. 

The staff member who tested positive is a 23-year-old male Indian national who works as a nursing aide. 

He did not display any symptoms and had tested positive for COVID-19 during the home’s surveillance testing for staff members on 11 June.

On that day, he went for an individual test which came back negative. However, he underwent another test the next day on 12 June and the test result came back positive. 

According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), his cycle threshold (CT) value was very high, meaning that he had a low viral load. The ministry said that he is “likely to be shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA from a past infection, which is no longer transmissible and infective to others”.

A high CT value means that the infection is not a recent one, and is most likely past the window of transmission to other individuals. 

The man also had a positive serology test, which shows that his infection is not a recent one.

He had received both doses of the vaccine in March, and is currently receiving treatment at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases. 

Staff and residents at the home underwent testing for the virus, and all test results came back negative. 

Visits to all nursing homes remain suspended until 20 June, a restriction that was put in place after the formation of a COVID-19 cluster at the MINDSville @ Napiri home, a home for adults with intellectual disabilities which is located in Hougang. 

DIY COVID-19 Rapid Test Kits

In other COVID-related news, MOH announced on 10 June that COVID-19 antigen rapid test (ART) kits will be made available in pharmacies this Wednesday (16 June) onwards, to allow you to test yourself for the virus.

Four types of self-test kits have received interim approval from the Health Sciences Authority (HSA), and will be rolled out at pharmacies. 

These kits can be purchased from selected Watsons, Guardian and Unity outlets islandwide. Initially, each person will only be able to purchase up to 10 test kits to ensure sufficient supplies for everyone, but as more test kits are manufactured, this limit will eventually be removed. 

The testing procedure will vary slightly for each type of test kit, so it is important to read the instructions carefully and follow them as closely as possible. 

For more information on the self-test kits, click here.

Featured Image: Facebook (All Saints Home) 


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