S’pore Reports Its First COVID-19 Patient Who Could’ve Been Infected Twice in Less than a Year

As evident from the resurgence of cases in countries all over the world, the coronavirus does not give up easily.

Just when you think you’ve defeated it, it comes back to bite you.

Now, we’re learning that Covid-19 will not only revisit countries that have low infections, but individuals who were previously infected as well. 

S’pore Reports Its First COVID-19 Patient Who Could’ve Been Infected In Less Than a Year

A resident of a migrant worker dormitory may be Singapore’s first case of Covid-19 re-infection, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Saturday (6 Feb).

The 28-year-old is a Bangladeshi work permit holder who lives in a dormitory at 43 Tech Park Crescent.

The man was first confirmed to have the coronavirus on 12 Apr last year.

Back then, the man was identified as Case 2513 and was part of the cluster of infections at Tech Park Crescent dormitory.

According to CNA, he recovered from the infection and tested negative for the coronavirus from last June onwards.

The man was tested again on 25 Jan this year during rostered monitoring testing.

It was conducted as part of MOH’s surveillance of recovered workers to monitor their postinfection immunity.

This time, his test result came back positive, meaning he had tested positive for Covid-19 for a second time after recovering from the virus.

“Numerous repeat tests conducted subsequently were also positive for the virus,” MOH said.

MOH added that the man reported feeling unwell on 22 Jan and 23 Jan, but was otherwise asymptomatic.

He is currently warded at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) and all his identified close contacts have been isolated and quarantined.

None of them have tested positive for Covid-19 so far.

Covid-19 Re-infection is Rare

Covid-19 re-infections are rare, and most people who get infected are likely to be immune for several months afterwards, according to a study in the UK.

The study involved more than 20,000 health-care workers in the country.

According to Nature, the study concluded that immune responses from past infection reduce the risk of catching the virus again by 83% for at least 5 months.

While reports of repeat infections have sparked concerns, this study suggests that repeat infections are very rare – occurring in fewer than 1% of about 6,600 participants.

MOH reiterated this point, but said that an expert panel has assessed that the clinical and laboratory evidence suggests the Bangladeshi worker was re-infected.

In addition to the man’s test results, there was also a boost in his antibody levels, suggesting that this is likely a different and new infection.

MOH said that no significant loss of post-infection immunity has been detected among recovered workers in dormitories so far, so there’s nothing to worry about.

The ministry said it will continue to monitor recovered Covid-19 patients to assess their post-infection immunity.

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