Singapore releases patients for the virus only after two swab tests. However, a local analysis found “no infectiousness or viable virus” though patients may test positive.
This is because the check identifies parts of the genome of the virus, but cannot indicate that they are only remnants of the virus, or that an entire virus is no longer survive and harm someone.
Specifying these new results would require updated discharge requirements in the Singapore position report.
However, the Ministry of Health ( MOH), which was informed of the study results some days ago, is responsible for deciding whether to change the discharge criteria.
When questioned, the MOH said: “The Ministry of Health should closely review the position paper and determine whether we can incorporate recent findings regarding infectious disease in our clinical management strategy for patients with Covid-19.”
This added that the therapeutic policy of Singapore for the treatment of patients with covid 19 is driven by the current clinical and research data at the local, international level.
The Singapore National Center for Infectious Diseases and the Academy of Medicine said a positive test “does not be compounded to infectiousness or viable viruses” a collaborative research paper. Until day 11 of the outbreak, the virus “can not be separated and cultivated.”
The report was based on a analysis of 73 city-state patents.
The most recent results can have consequences for the patient discharge policy in the country. The discharge criteria are based not on infection but on negative results.
To date, 13,882 patients have been released from hospitals and community facilities, or about 45 percent of a total of 31,068 Covid-19. As of midnight Saturday, Singapore reported 642 new Covid 19 cases.
As the government plans for reopening pre-schools on 2 June, pre-school staff have been regularly screened. On Friday, the latest coronavirus was test-positive by two pre-school employees and the Ministry of Health announced that the overall number of verified cases among pre-school workers exceeded seven.
