A team of scientists from Singapore have developed a test kit that is able to detect a person’s immunity to Covid-19 in just 10 minutes.

The test kit will help indicate whether a person needs to get their vaccine booster jab quickly with just a simple blood sample.

The remarkable test kit was developed by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) which is MIT’s research enterprise in Singapore.

it works by detecting the SARS-COV-2 antibodies in blood samples, also detects variants like Delta and Omicron, and helps to tell whether a person needs to get a booster shot based on the level of antibodies in their body.

Snippets from SMART’s press release

this rapid point-of-care test kit is a serology test that measures antibodies made by the patient. It requires a drop of blood and takes just 10 minutes to show results, as compared to the 24 to 72 hours required for conventional laboratory testing.

The test kit detects the levels of neutralising antibodies against SARS-COV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, and its variants such as Delta and Omicron, and can be easily adapted for new variants of concern and other diseases in the future.

Using a paper-based assay that is coated with chemicals that bind to antibodies in the blood sample, the test kit is low-cost, fast and has up to 93 per cent accuracy. It paves the way for personalised vaccination strategies, where people are only given vaccinations and booster shots when necessary, depending on their variance in antibody levels and immune response.

Having an accurate and rapid serology test can enable governments and healthcare organisations to effectively manage limited vaccine resources, and address vaccine hesitancy, particularly concerning multiple booster doses.

a clinical study by the joint research team has shown that the protection offered by currently available vaccines steadily declines over three months, with varying degrees of decline across individuals. The study showed that after three months of a booster shot, the neutralising antibody (NAb) response against wildtype and Delta still remained high at medians of 91.8 per cent, while medians against Beta and Gamma had dropped to 82.7 and for Omicron, a large drop to 70.7 per cent, down from 92.9 per cent.

The emergence of novel variants with much higher transmissibility than the wild-type virus – such as Delta and Omicron – has exacerbated the issue of using mRNA vaccines developed based on the wildtype virus to boost immunity, especially when some current vaccines are showing reduced protection against these novel variants of concern (VoC).

With a drop of finger prick blood, the test kit can evaluate an individual’s neutralising antibody level against a specific COVID-19 variant within 10 minutes, making this an efficient, low-cost, and easy-to-use tool that will enable large-scale testing and can be widely deployed anywhere as part of a personalised vaccination strategy.

The test reveals the individual’s level of neutralising antibodies, which can then inform a person when a booster should be taken, and how cautious they should be about potential transmission before it is taken.

It can be administered by a layperson without medical training and does not require any specialised laboratory equipment, paving the way for large-scale testing of vulnerable subsets of the population such as the elderly.

Images source: NTU via SMART.mit.edu

On 16 February 2021 at about 11.55 pm, the Police received a call for assistance along Jurong East Street 32.

Upon arrival, officers found the woman with multiple stab wounds lying motionless at the void deck of Block 308 Jurong East Street 32.

According to Today, 37-year-old China national Zheng Xianfeng dated the victim for a year before breaking up.

The man got intoxicated and stabbed his ex-GF (34-years-old Tham Mee Yoke) 29 times.

The woman was unconscious when conveyed to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, where she was subsequently pronounced dead at about 1.30 am on 17 February 2021.

Psychiatric reports indicated that Zheng suffers from major depressive disorder and alcoholism.

The man was eventually sentenced to 12 years in jail, reported Today.

The offence of murder, punishable under Section 302(1) of the Penal Code, carries the death penalty. Police investigations are ongoing.

Background:

The two met in 2018 as flatmates and got together as a couple in 2020.

The couple constantly suspected each other of cheating and the relationship quickly turned sour.

According to CNA, Back in 2020, Zheng once took a knife and stabbed his own thigh after Tham told him that the relationship is over, Zheng followed by using the knife to cut Tham resulting a 15cm cut.

On a separate occasion, Zheng attacked her again after she witness Tham contacting another man on her phone.

On the day of the murder, Zheng was drinking beer when he received a message from Tham telling him not to harass her anymore.

Zheng left his home with a 26.5cm knife and waited near the victim’s home before committing the murder.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said in a statement on 20 September that construction works on the East Coast Intergrated Depot (ECID) are about 75% completed, and is scheduled to be opened in 2025.

The ECID will be Singapore’s largest train and bus depot, and it will house three depots of the Downtown, East-West and Thomson-East Coast MRT lines, as well as a bus depot.

The ECID will also be the first 4-in-one depot in the world.

LTA’s statement on Facebook

Remember our very own world’s first four-in-one depot which will have 3 train depots and 1 bus depot within a single site? Yes, we’re talking about the East Coast Integrated Depot (#ECID)!

The train depots are meant to house three MRT lines – the Downtown Line, the Thomson-East Coast Line, and the East-West Line, and will have a total stabling capacity of around 220 trains.

The bus depot will have dedicated areas for maintenance works to be carried out and provide parking for about 760 buses.

We’re glad to update that construction works are progressing well, with 75% of the overall structural works completed.

Slated to be completed in 2025, the ECID also features several “green” highlights such as a façade that makes use of natural ventilation and lighting to reduce energy use!

Check out the visuals below for some sneak peeks of the up-and-coming ECID!

Jeffrey Pe, now 45 years old, allegedly assaulted a then-20-year-old male victim during a celebration for the latter finishing his NS.

He is facing three charges of penetrating the alleged victim who was too drunk to consent to the acts at the time of the incident, and faces a potential jail term of up to 20 years along with a fine and caning.

What happened?

Pe first met the alleged victim at a pub around 23 July 2017, and the latter had just recently broken up with his girlfriend at the time and wanted to know more women, according to Channel NewsAsia (CNA).

The two then became friends, and Pe then invited the victim and a woman that the latter was interested in, to his birthday party on 29 July 2017, and they also exchanged numbers.

Pe and the victim went out on 8 August 2017 to celebrate the latter’s ORD (Operationally Ready Date, when a serviceman finishes his NS), according to TODAY.

They drank at Chinatown before heading to Pe’s condominium, and the victim then asked if he could stay over, and Pe then allegedly made the victim an alcoholic drink before offering him some clothes to change and his bed to sleep in.

The victim then declined and chose to sleep on Pe’s bedroom floor instead, and he later woke up and found his jeans and underwear pulled down will Pe allegedly performing oral intercourse on him.

Pe also allegedly used his fingers to penetrate the victim from behind.

The victim then called a friend and said that he was raped by Pe, and reported the incident to the police on 9 AUgust at about 5.47am, saying that “a guy just tried to rape me. I have known him for a few weeks, he was very intoxicated. He is at home right now.”

The authorities then went down to Pe’s home and arrested him.

A former resident of a 4-room flat at Compassvale Road, 64-year-old Mr Huang, said that he can no longer tolerate the complaints of his neighbours against his 9 aircon units at home, and moved out of the unit.

Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, Huang said that his neighbours had “ganged up” against his and went to the authorities and the media.

He has since relocated to an executive flat in Sengkang, and added that he will bring over 8 of his aircon units to his new home.

He said that he has come to terms with spending an estimated $20,000 on the move to his new home, and that he had to forfeit the $7,600 deposit for the abrupt termination of his previous unit’s lease.

He also had to pay for the reinstallation of the aircon units in his new home, but said that it doesn’t matter as long as he can live comfortably.

Neighbours complaints

The complaints against Huang’s 9 aircon units hit the headlines last month.

Huang has liver cancer, and previously said that he spent $13,000 installing the aircons at him as he needed them to feel comfortable at home.

He also wears several layers of clothes at home after turning the temperature down to 18 degrees because he believes in “keeping the body” as it “helps to improve immunity”

One of his neighbours complained that the condensation from Huang’s aircons made his floor wet, and that his family has been stepping on a cold and wet floor every day.