Singapore’s mortality rate lower than first time infections

The mortality rate of patients with COVID 19 infection in Singapore is lower than that of those who were infected for the first time, said Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung on Tuesday. The mortality rate of reinfection cases from September to November was four per 100,000 cases, lower than the rate for first-time infection cases of 35 per 100,000 cases, he said.

Ong was responding to a parliamentary question by MP Yip Hon Weng PAP-Yio Chu Kang about a US research paper that suggested COVID 19 reinfection was more dangerous.

According to some media reports, the paper found that second COVID 19 infections were more severe compared to first infections, said Mr Ong. He said that these media reports have not been clear or accurate.

The paper does not compare the severity between first-time infections and reinfections. The Health Minister said that it compares the outcomes of those with a COVID 19 infection to those with two or more infections.

He said that getting sick twice is worse than getting sick once, but getting sick for the second time is not worse than getting sick the first time.