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Vaccinated migrant worker among 14 new Covid-19 cases; MOH to monitor re-infection of recovered patients

SINGAPORE — Singapore registered 14 new cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday (April 20), including the first infection in a dormitory in nine days. The Bangladeshi migrant worker who contracted Covid-19 had already completed his vaccination.

Medical personnel attending to migrant workers at a dormitory during the Covid-19 outbreak in Singapore on April 29, 2020.

Medical personnel attending to migrant workers at a dormitory during the Covid-19 outbreak in Singapore on April 29, 2020.

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  • A Bangladeshi migrant worker who was vaccinated has contracted Covid-19
  • This is the second such case since April 11
  • MOH said of a new cluster: A couple who was reported to be infected last week likely got the virus from a relative
  • The relative was probably re-infected when he was in India and was infectious when he came to Singapore
  • MOH said it will closely monitor for re-infection of recovered patients and is reviewing border measures for recovered travellers

 

SINGAPORE — Singapore registered 14 new cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday (April 20), including the first infection in a dormitory in nine days. The Bangladeshi migrant worker who contracted Covid-19 had already completed his vaccination.

This is the second case in slightly over a week where a migrant worker was infected after completing vaccination

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said that this is a locally transmitted infection with no links to previous cases. 

The man, a work permit holder, is employed by Prosper Environmental and Engineering as a construction supervisor and works at Sembcorp Marine Admiralty Yard located at 60 Admiralty Road West.

He was putting up at Westlite Woodlands Dormitory.

On April 16, he developed a runny nose but did not report his symptoms. He was then tested for Covid-19 as part of the ministry’s routine testing of workers that same day.

His pooled test result came back positive for Covid-19 on April 18, and he was immediately isolated and taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

An individual test was done that same day, and his test result came back positive for coronavirus infection on April 19.

“His earlier tests from (the rostered testing) — the last being on April 9 — were all negative for Covid-19. His serology test result (for past infection) has come back positive but we have assessed that this is likely a current infection,” MOH said.

The ministry added that the man received his first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine on March 12 and the second dose on April 13.

MOH said that this likely accounted for his positive serology test result since he would have produced antibodies following vaccination.

“However, as it typically takes a few weeks for an individual to build up immunity after completing vaccination, he was likely to have been infected before he was conferred protection after vaccination.”

NEW CLUSTER: COUPLE LIKELY INFECTED BY BROTHER-IN-LAW 

There were no cases in the community reported on Tuesday, but a new cluster has formed from a household.

Giving an update on a 41-year-old accountant who tested positive last Friday and her husband, a 44-year-old permanent resident who who works as a manager at Spice Grill Restaurant and Rangoon Bar & Bistro, MOH said that it had tested all of her close contacts, including a 43-year-old man who is her household contact. 

The man, who is the woman’s brother-in-law, had arrived from India on April 2 but did not have symptoms.

His on-arrival swab in Singapore was positive for Covid-19 and he was taken to a hospital.

He was later assessed to be a recovered case based on his high Ct value which indicated a low viral load, a positive serology test result on April 4, as well as a negative pre-departure test taken on March 31.

“He was then discharged from the hospital on April 6, without the need for further isolation as he was deemed to have been shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA, which were no longer transmissible and infective to others,” MOH said.

On April 17 though, the man was identified as a close contact of his sister-in-law and tested for the coronavirus.

His test result then came back positive, as did his serology test result.

“The Ct value of his polymerase chain reaction test taken on April 17 was lower than his test done on April 2, indicating a higher viral load this time. His antibody titres were also very high, suggesting that he was exposed to a new infection, which boosted his antibody levels.

“MOH, in consultation with an expert panel that comprises infectious diseases and microbiology experts, has assessed that he was likely to have been re-infected with Covid-19 recently.” 

The ministry added that its investigations found that the man was probably re-infected when he was in India, and had been infectious when he returned to Singapore.

He then passed the infection to the couple.

MOH stressed that with the emergence of new variants of concern around the world, it will closely monitor for re-infection of recovered patients and are reviewing Singapore’s border measures for recovered travellers.

“Similar imported cases suspected of re-infection will be isolated and undergo repeat Covid-19 PCR tests to monitor the trend of their viral loads, to ensure that such cases are detected promptly,” it said.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has jumped from two in the week before to nine in the past week.

The number of cases with no known links in the community has also gone up from two in the week before to four in the past week.

IMPORTED CASES

Apart from the Bangladeshi worker in the dormitory, there were 13 imported cases of Covid-19 registered on Tuesday and all had been placed on stay-home notices upon their arrival here.

They were:

  • One Singaporean and two permanent residents who returned from India and the Philippines

  • One dependant’s pass holder who arrived from Sri Lanka

  • Four work pass holders who came from India and Malaysia

  • Four work permit holders who arrived from Bangladesh, India and Myanmar, one of whom is a foreign domestic worker

  • One short-term visit pass holder who came from India to visit her family member here

UPDATE ON REMAINING CASES

The total number of infections in Singapore is now 60,865.

Of these, 60,540 people have fully recovered and been discharged, including 37 on Tuesday.

There are still 74 patients in hospitals. Of these, most are stable or improving, and one is in critical condition in the intensive care unit, MOH said.

Another 221 patients are isolated at community facilities. They have mild symptoms or are clinically well but still tested positive for Covid-19.

Thirty people have died from complications due to the disease.

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MOH Covid-19 coronavirus foreign worker dormitory

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