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SINGAPORE, February 7: Singapore has detected the first case of probable COVID-19 reinfection involving a migrant worker in a bedroom, according to the Republic’s Ministry of Health (MOH).
Although reinfection is rare, the ministry, in consultation with a panel of experts, has assessed that clinical and laboratory evidence “suggests that this is a probable case of reinfection.”
In addition to the positive results of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, the ministry said there was a corresponding marked increase in antibody titers compared to the period before the probable reinfection, “which suggests that it was exposed to a new infection that increased their levels of antibodies ”.
“The virus detected in its samples taken in January 2021 is also genetically different from that associated with the 2020 bedroom outbreak, suggesting that it is probably a new and different infection,” the ministry said in a statement Saturday. the night.
The expert panel is made up of infectious disease and microbiology experts from the National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID), Singapore General Hospital, and the National Public Health Laboratory.
The MOH noted that it will continue to closely monitor the recovered COVID-19 cases to determine their post-infection immunity.
“So far, there is no indication that recovered dormitory workers have a significant loss of immunity after infection,” he said.
The ministry said the worker, previously labeled Case 2513, was identified from the listed monitoring tests conducted as part of its surveillance of recovered workers to monitor their post-infection immunity.
The Health Ministry said the case is a 28-year-old Bangladeshi national who has a work permit and resides in a dormitory located at 43 Tech Park Crescent.
He had been confirmed to have a COVID-19 infection on April 12, 2020 and subsequently recovered, consistently testing negative for COVID-19 infection from June 2020 onwards.
However, on January 25, 2021, his test result was positive for COVID-19 infection and he was isolated.
“Numerous repeat tests performed subsequently also tested positive for the virus,” the ministry said.
The Health Ministry said the worker who is currently protected in the NCID reported that he felt ill on January 22 and 23, but is otherwise asymptomatic.
He added that all the close contacts identified in the case, all of whom have tested negative for COVID-19 so far, have been isolated and quarantined. Called
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