Singapore - Community Transmission of B.1.617 Variant Detected

[Okieman]

Singapore says it has detected the ?double mutant? Covid variant from India in its community, tightens restrictions

PUBLISHED TUE, MAY 4 20218:41 AM EDTUPDATED WED, MAY 5 20215:11 AM EDT
Abigail Ng@ABIGAILNGWY

SINGAPORE ? Singapore said Tuesday the ?double mutant? coronavirus variant first detected in India has been found among locally transmitted cases in the city state.

The B.1.617 variant is widely blamed for India?s second wave of infections that has seen total cases surge above 20 million. The World Health Organization classified it as a variant of interest last week.

As of Monday, Singapore has detected 10 local cases of the variant from India. Seven of these infections are in three active clusters, the country?s Covid task force said in a press release.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/04/double-mutant-covid-variant-from-india-detected-in-singapore.html

 

[Okieman]

Also in the article posted above:

Singapore also announced tighter measures in a bid to stem the spread of the coronavirus in the city as local infections climb.

Starting Saturday, travelers arriving from higher risk countries will have to be quarantined for 21 days, up from 14 days previously.

 

[Okieman]

Okieman Comment: I posted this on the Vietnam thread and remembered reading about a 21 day quarantine somewhere. It was Singapore. See article below to maybe help understand why Singapore is going to a 21 day quarantine

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COVID-19 Stages Another Comeback in Vietnam

A recent spate of community transmissions is likely to delay the country?s planned resumption of international tourism.
By Sebastian Strangio
May 04, 2021

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More concerning than the spread of these cases is the fact that they have been linked to overseas arrivals who have tested positive even after completing a mandatory two-week quarantine, suggesting the presence of COVID-19 strains with longer incubation periods. Among these were a Vietnamese man returning from Japan and a group of Chinese nationals.

According to Vietnamese media reports, the most recent case involved an Indian national who tested positive for an infectious new strain of the coronavirus after arriving in the country and completing a two-week quarantine in the northern city of Hai Phong, during which time he tested negative twice.

The government has responded by ordering that those currently in 14-day quarantine must remain in isolation after their period of confinement ends. The government has also announced that the mandatory quarantine period will be extended by a length to be determined in the coming days.

snip

https://thediplomat.com/2021/05/covi...ck-in-vietnam/

 

[Okieman]

Two things come to mind here: Test which no longer work due to a new variant -OR- a longer incubation period due to a new variant. Both are bad

 

[Okieman]

Okieman Comment: Maybe this is what is driving a longer quarantine period. (Also posted in the Vietnam tread.)
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Demand for longer quarantine period among common and uncommon COVID-19 infections: a scoping review

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Conclusions

This study provides evidence that the incubation period distribution of COVID-19, especially the large percentiles, can be influenced by the carriers remained infectious at the post-quarantine stage. We not only suggest a proper quarantine duration for COVID-19, but also delivers more accurate estimates of the COVID-19 incubation period, which also plays a fundamental role in estimating other epidemiological parameters and statistical prediction modeling. As infectious outliers account for a certain proportion among all kinds of infections, in this study, the results of 95th and 99th percentiles of both two distributions were estimated to exceed fourteen days. Although such duration is applicable in most cases, to further prevent possible transmissions induced and facilitated by them, especially in regions with insufficient testing resources, strengthening the quarantine measures up to 21-days could be prudent for high-risk scenarios.

https://idpjournal.biomedcentral.com...49-021-00847-y