Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has recovered from COVID-19, six days after he tested positive second time for the viral disease in the last one month, a media report said on Thursday.
Lee, 71, first tested positive for COVID-19 on May 22.
On May 28, Lee said he was COVID-19 negative and was about to return to work, before testing positive again on June 1 due to a "COVID rebound", Channel News Asia reported.
However, on Wednesday Lee announced that he has completely recovered from COVID-19 and has resumed work, the report said.
Lee's doctor said that the prime minister's positive test six days ago was due to a "COVID rebound, which happens in 5 to 10 per cent of cases".
During his COVID treatment, Lee was prescribed the antiviral medication Paxlovid because of his age, and also because his most recent vaccine booster was in November.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a health advisory in May last year about the potential for the recurrence of COVID-19, or COVID rebound.
It said a brief return of symptoms may be part of the "natural history" of COVID-19 in some people, independent of treatment with Paxlovid and regardless of vaccination status.
.A COVID-19 rebound has been reported to occur between two and eight days after initial recovery and is characterised by a recurrence of symptoms or a new positive viral test after having tested negative, added the CDC.
