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SINGAPORE – A 22-year-old permanent resident studying in the UK was the only community case of Covid-19 announced by the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday night (March 31).
He is asymptomatic and was detected when he took a Covid-19 test before departure on Tuesday in preparation for his return to the UK.
His test result came back positive the same day and he was taken to the National Center for Infectious Diseases.
“His Ct value was very high, indicating a low viral load, and the result of his serological test was positive,” said the Ministry of Health. A positive serologic test suggests that the infection is not that recent.
Another test conducted by Tan Tock Seng Hospital on Wednesday was negative for Covid-19 infection.
This means that the student could be shedding tiny bits of virus RNA from a past infection, which are no longer communicable or infectious, the Health Ministry said.
The Health Ministry added that since it could not definitively conclude when it had been infected, it is taking all necessary public actions as a precautionary measure.
The student had returned to Singapore from the UK on January 11 and served a stay-at-home notice (SHN) in a dedicated facility, and an additional seven-day self-isolation at his place of residence until February 1.
His tests taken on January 24 during SHN and on January 29 during self-isolation were negative for Covid-19.
There were also 33 imported cases, bringing Singapore’s total to 60,381.
All of them had been placed on stay-at-home or isolated notices upon arrival in Singapore, the Health Ministry said.
They came from countries like India, Myanmar and Papua New Guinea.
The Health Ministry said the number of new cases in the community had risen from none in the previous week to three cases in the last week.
The number of unrelated cases in the community also increased from zero to three in the same period.
With 11 cases discharged on Wednesday, 60,134 people have made a full recovery from the disease.
A total of 37 patients remain in the hospital, including one in critical condition in the intensive care unit, while 165 recover in community facilities.
Singapore has had 30 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while 15 who tested positive have died from other causes.
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