'Covid rebound': PM Lee tests positive for Covid-19 again days after testing negative

SINGAPORE — Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has tested positive for Covid-19 again, in what his doctors termed as a “Covid rebound”.

In a Facebook post on Thursday (June 1), Mr Lee, 71, shared a photo of a positive antigen rapid test that he took.

“I feel fine but I am afraid I have turned Covid-19 positive again. My doctors say it is a Covid rebound, which happens in 5 per cent to 10 per cent of cases,” he wrote in his post.

Mr Lee also said that he is “still infectious although the risk is not high compared to the initial infection”.

He was advised by his doctors to self-isolate until he tests negative on the rapid test kit.

Mr Lee said that he had looked forward to attending the consecration ceremony of the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple along Tank Road near River Valley on Thursday morning, but "unfortunately will now have to miss it to keep others around me safe". 

"My apologies to the organisers, and to all those attending the ceremony. I wish everyone a very successful consecration and celebration!" he added.

Mr Lee first tested positive for Covid-19 on May 22, after his work trips to South Africa and Kenya.

On May 28, he announced in a Facebook post that he had tested negative for Covid-19.

During his absence, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong would be the Acting Prime Minister, the Prime Minister's Office in a statement on Thursday.

Mr Wong will stand in for Mr Lee to host Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for the 8th Singapore-Australia Annual Leaders’ Meeting on Friday, it added.