On 22 May 2023, Singapore’s very own uncle and auntie killer PM Lee Oppa said he tested positive for COVID-19.
Thankfully, the symptoms weren’t bad and he used this chance to urge fellow brothers and sisters in his age group and above to take the vaccination shots.
On Sunday (28 May), PM Lee once again took to his social media account to announce the good news: He’s tested negative and will be returning to work on Monday.
Yet before his subordinates have the chance to get used to having the boss in the office again, this happens.
PM Lee Tests Positive For COVID-19 Again Days After Testing Negative
On 1 June 2023, PM Lee took to his Facebook account to reveal his COVID-19 test results.
In his post, he revealed that he is COVID-19 positive again, showing his ART test kit as proof.
According to his post, testing positive for COVID-19 again, while uncommon, isn’t unheard of.
Called “COVID rebound”, it usually happens in 5-10% of COVID-19 cases.
PM Lee: Risk isn’t that High
For those who are worried about our national oppa’s heath, you’ll be happy to note that he feels “fine”.
In addition, he noted that while he is still infectious, the risk isn’t as high as the initial infection.
People in the PMO must be heaving sighs of relief now.
He says that he’ll abide by his doctors’ advice (notice how there’s a plural while most of us only have a single doctor?) and self-isolate until he tests negative again.
PM Lee isn’t the first leader of a country to be struck twice by COVID-19; Current US President Joe Biden was also another victim.
Guess there’ll at least be one common topic to break the ice, huh?
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a COVID rebound is defined as the recurrence of symptoms or testing positive for COVID-19 two to eight days after testing negative.
Initially, people have blamed it on an antiviral drug regimen called Paxlovid but the CDC has since came out to say this phenomenon is part of the “natural history” of COVID-19.
It will happen to anyone (who’s unlucky enough) regardless of whether they’ve taken the drug or are vaccinated.
Well, if you’re like the Goody Feed Fat Cat who loves drawing lessons out of anything, here are two takeaways from the incident:
- Take vaccination shots because it reduces the symptoms’ severity
- PM Lee’s announcement is a model example of how to report your COVID-19 status to your manager or employers
You can read PM Lee’s Facebook post in full below: