Child Dies Of COVID-19 On Same Day Of Testing Positive For Virus

A 4-year-old girl with no past medical history died of COVID-19 in Singapore on Sunday, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said Tuesday. The child’s death is the second casualty under 12 in the country.

The girl was previously well and did not have any comorbidities, according to Channel News Asia. She developed symptoms of an upper respiratory tract infection and fever last Friday. Her antigen rapid test came positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, following which a general practitioner prescribed the girl some medication. However, she remained unwell and collapsed Sunday night. 

The state coroner said the child’s cause of death was COVID-19 pneumonia, the ministry wrote in a statement, according to Yahoo News.

“Children are generally more resilient to COVID-19 infections than adults and the elderly. Notwithstanding, COVID-19 infections can result in severe disease among children,” MOH said, extending its deepest condolences to the girl’s family. “MOH, the Health Sciences Authority and Expert Committee on COVID-19 Vaccination are studying the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines that have been formulated for young children under the age of five.”

The first coronavirus death in a patient under 12 in Singapore was reported on June 27. A 1 and-a-half-year-old Singaporean boy died after testing positive for COVID-19. The cause of his death was encephalitis – inflammation of the brain – due to COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus and enterovirus infections. 

The girl’s death is one of four fatalities reported in Singapore on Sunday. The country reported 1,457 deaths since the COVID-19 pandemic began in the year 2020. On Monday, Singapore reported 6,227 new COVID-19 cases, of which 5,978 were local cases. About 93% of the total population in Singapore have been administered with the COVID-19 vaccine, and 78% have received booster shots. 

Earlier this month, the country’s Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said Singapore was “near the peak, if not at the peak” of the current Omicron wave. About 50 percent of infections were from the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, he said.

“For this current wave, our assessment is that it will not be as severe as the Omicron wave we experienced earlier this year. This is because many more of us have gained stronger immunity, either through booster shots or recovery from infections,” he added.

Photo: Reuters / BRENDAN MCDERMID