This does not bode well - Singapore is locking down from a recent Covid surge

asp3

asp3

Senior Member
Location
Silicon Valley, CA
It appears that Singapore is being affected by the Indian Covid variant.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/s...ook-amid-new-virus-surge-20210516-p57sgm.html

Although I know many folks can't read Washington Post articles due to their subscription requirements their article provides the information that concerns me most.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...70ca20-b6f5-11eb-bc4a-62849cf6cca9_story.html

They list two cases of fully vaccinated people passing Covid on to others. The first was a nurse who developed a cough and a sore throat. Two weeks later half of the patients in the ward she had been working in tested positive for Covid. The second was a fully vaccinated 88 year old janitor at an airport where within weeks his case was connected with a cluster of 86 infected people.

Only time will show us how this will play out in other areas. I'm crossing my fingers that there are other factors contributing to the spread they're seeing in Singapore.
 

Since I can’t read it, were those others who caught it also positive with the Indian variant?

Fear of the variant has me not yet willing to remove my mask, etc.
 
Jules said:
Since I can’t read it, were those others who caught it also positive with the Indian variant?

Fear of the variant has me not yet willing to remove my mask, etc.
Click to expand...

The article didn't specify if the same variant was found in the infected patients. If I read something that provides more information about the situation there I'll update the thread with a link (even if it's another Washington Post article.)
 

Thanks. The Indian variant is reported as being twice (if I’m remembering correctly) as transmissible as the original form of Covid-19.
 
asp3 said:
It appears that Singapore is being affected by the Indian Covid variant.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/s...ook-amid-new-virus-surge-20210516-p57sgm.html

Although I know many folks can't read Washington Post articles due to their subscription requirements their article provides the information that concerns me most.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...70ca20-b6f5-11eb-bc4a-62849cf6cca9_story.html

They list two cases of fully vaccinated people passing Covid on to others. The first was a nurse who developed a cough and a sore throat. Two weeks later half of the patients in the ward she had been working in tested positive for Covid. The second was a fully vaccinated 88 year old janitor at an airport where within weeks his case was connected with a cluster of 86 infected people.

Only time will show us how this will play out in other areas. I'm crossing my fingers that there are other factors contributing to the spread they're seeing in Singapore.
Click to expand...
We already have the Indian variant here Asp. We have a patient right now that has had both vaccinations and still caught the variant and isn't doing well.
 
I'm still wearing a mask (not vaccinated for medical reasons) in part to protect myself from vaccinated people who get milder cases. We've known from early on that vaccinated people still get it though their illness is less severe. Regardless of how mild the case, the vaccinated person is still contagious.
 
AnnieA said:
India and Taiwan have very low vaccination rates. Singapore, while high for Asia at 25% of the population vaccinated, is still low compared to the UK and US. Singapore is also using China's Sinovac which is less efficacious than most other vaccines.
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According to the article Singapore only uses Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.
 
I found this amazing article which is some of the best reporting on Covid infections and clusters I've ever seen. Granted they have few enough cases that they can do this detailed reporting, but it's still wonderful.

https://www.straitstimes.com/multimedia/graphics/2021/05/singapore-covid19-clusters/index.html?shell

The bottom line is that it states that 24 of people tested in the cluster that involves the airport janitor all had the India variant (they're calling it B1617 but I've seen some decimal points in other descriptions of it.) They don't have a breakdown of the one at the hospital.
 
Jeweltea said:
According to the article Singapore only uses Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.
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Thanks! I didn't read the article but was going by one I read (and remembered incorrectly obviously) about an island country with new cases. Can't remember now the correct one or where I read it. 🙃


Edit: Singapore recently purchased 200,000 doses of Sinovac but they haven't started using it yet. That's what I misremembered in the earlier post.
 
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HOUSTON – The COVID-19 variant ravaging India right now has been detected in our area. There are at least two patients with this highly contagious form of the virus at UTMB and doctors suspect there could be a lot more.

In India, people are battling devastation from a cyclone and the pandemic.

The B.1.617 strain of the coronavirus there is killing people by the thousands. Dr. Janak Patel, UTMB director for healthcare epidemiology and infection control, said hardly anyone with family there hasn’t felt tremendous loss from the uncontrolled spread.

“They are clamoring for the vaccine. You know, of course, they’re seeing the epidemic first hand. That’s very devastating, so that has woken up a lot of people. There was a time early on when the vaccination effort began when COVID case numbers were low, that people were reluctant to get a vaccine, but right now with the current tragedy, everyone, pretty much everyone, is struggling to get access to a vaccine,” Patel said.
 
The big question would be how are these vaccinated people who got the Indian variant faring? Is the vaccine keeping them from getting seriously ill?
 

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