The Latest Community Case Has Come from The US in Oct & Was Earlier Suspected to Have Dengue

Many of us believe that if zero community cases are reported for a few consecutive days, it means that the coronavirus has vanished from our streets.

But we’re forgetting all about undetected infections.

Moreover, with more people coming over from abroad, infections are bound to rise a little, even if some of them previously cleared their two-week quarantine.

The Latest Community Case Has Come from The US in Oct & Was Earlier Suspected to Have Dengue

The sole community case reported on Thursday (5 Nov) was a 39-year-old man who arrived in Singapore from the United States on 11 Oct.

The man is a short-term visitor whose wife is a permanent resident here.

He has no known links to past infections, according to TODAYonline.

Like most visitors, the man was placed on stay-home notice upon arrival. He was tested on 22 Oct, while still under quarantine at a dedicated facility, and his result came back negative.

Given that his stay-home notice started on 11 Oct, the man likely left his facility on 25 Oct.

However, 5 days later on 30 Oct, he developed a fever sought medical treatment at a general practitioner clinic.

The doctor diagnosed him with suspected dengue.

He later developed symptoms of acute respiratory infection and was tested for Covid-19 on 2 Nov.

On 4 Nov, his test came back positive, and he was taken to the hospital.

The good news is that the man is just one of two community cases in the past week.

The bad news is that they aren’t linked to past cases, so it’s unclear where they contracted the infection.

Two-year-old Singaporean Boy Among Imported Cases

Many of us think that the young are somehow impervious to Covid-19, but as we’ve seen time and time again, the coronavirus doesn’t discriminate.

One of the six imported cases reported on Thursday was a two-year-old Singaporean boy with travel history to the Philippines.

He is a contact of a previous case.

The other five imported cases include two permanent residents, two work permit holders and one long-term visit pass holder.

These cases have travel history to India, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.

All six cases were placed on stay-home notices upon their arrival.

Only 66 Patients In Hospital or Isolation Facilities

Now, when you hear that Singapore has a total of 58,043 infections, you’re probably picturing hospitals bursting at the seams with hundreds and thousands of patients.

But there are just 40 patients in hospitals. And fortunately, most of them are in stable condition or improving.

Another 26 patients who have mild symptoms or are clinically well are isolated and being cared for at community facilities.

Including the 11 on Thursday, a total of 57,949 have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.

We’re still patiently waiting for the day when we have zero community case, zero imported cases, and zero dormitory cases.