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13 community cases out of 25 new COVID infections in Singapore

Two men seen wearing face masks outside the Funan Mall on Monday (27 January). (PHOTO: Dhany Osman / Yahoo News Singapore)
Two men seen wearing face masks outside the Funan Mall. (Yahoo News Singapore file photo)

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Tuesday (11 May) confirmed 25 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore, taking the country's total case count to 61,403.

Thirteen of them are local cases in the community, of whom 10 are linked to previous cases – including seven to a new cluster at Changi Airport.

Amongst the local cases, eight had already been placed on quarantine earlier. The remaining 12 cases are imported.

Tuesday marks the 16th consecutive day with local cases reported. "Amongst the new cases today, 13 are asymptomatic, and were detected from our proactive screening and surveillance, while 12 were symptomatic," said the MOH.

The ministry noted that the number of new cases in the community has decreased from 63 in the week before to 40 in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has increased from nine in the week before to 12 in the past week.

It also added several new locations to a list of public venues visited by infectious community cases, including eateries at Junction 8, a Starbucks outlet at Plaza Singapura, Ming Seng Goldsmith at Joo Chiat Complex, LBC Express Airfreight at Lucky Plaza and Olsen Studio at Orchard Central.

3 unlinked community cases

One of them is a 27-year-old Malaysian man who works as a manufacturing operator at Siltronic Singapore. He had not gone to work after onset of symptoms.

The man developed body aches on 6 May, and sought medical treatment at a general practitioner (GP) clinic on the same day, and was given two days’ medical leave.

He developed a fever and cough on 8 May, and sought treatment at another GP clinic at night. He was tested for COVID-19 the next day, and his result came back positive on 10 May. His serology test result is negative, said the MOH.

The other unlinked case is a 50-year-old permanent resident who works as an IT support staff at Kulicke & Soffa. He also works part-time as a barista at Starbucks at Plaza Singapura and a general worker at LBC Express at Lucky Plaza.

The man received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on 24 April and has not received his second dose, said the MOH.

He developed a cough and shortness of breath on 6 May but did not seek medical treatment. On 8 May night, as his symptoms had persisted, he went to a GP clinic where he was tested for COVID-19 the next day. His test result came back positive on 10 May. His serology test result is negative, the ministry noted.

The third unlinked community case is a 42-year-old Malaysian man who works as an operating theatre technician at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital. He returned to Singapore on 10 January after a trip to Malaysia, and served his stay-home notice until 24 January. His test taken on 23 January was negative for COVID-19.

He developed a cough on 21 April but did not seek medical treatment. His cough worsened and on 10 May, he sought medical treatment at the hospital’s staff clinic, where he was tested for COVID-19. His test result came back positive on the same day.

"His Ct value was very high, which is indicative of a low viral load and his serology test result has come back positive. He could be shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA from a past infection which are no longer transmissible and infective to others," said the MOH.

"However given that we are not able to definitively conclude when he had been infected, we will take all the necessary public health actions as a precautionary measure."

Two linked to previous cases, not part of clusters

One is a 72-year-old Singaporean man who is a retiree. He is a family member and household contact of a 38-year-old Singaporean man who works as a private hire car driver with Grab and was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 8 May.

The older man had received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on 23 February, and the second dose on 16 March.

As he had been identified as a close contact of the Grab driver, he was placed on quarantine on 8 May. He developed a cough the next day but did not report his symptoms to the MOH, the ministry noted.

On 10 May, he was tested for COVID-19 during quarantine and his result came back positive the next day. His serology test result is pending, said the MOH.

The other case is a 48-year-old Singaporean woman who works as a relief school library assistant but had not gone to work after the onset of symptoms. She is the wife of a 47-year-old Singaporean man who works as a landscaper at NParks and was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 8 May.

As she had been identified as a close contact of her husband, she was placed on quarantine on 8 May and was tested for COVID-19 on 10 May. On the same day, she developed a fever, cough, and body aches. Her test result came back positive the next day. Her serology test result is pending, said the MOH.

Changi Airport cluster: 7 new cases + 1 previous case linked, 18 in total

The "Case 62873" cluster is named after an 88-year-old Singaporean man who is employed by Ramky Cleantech Services as a cleaner deployed at Changi Airport Terminal 3. The fully-vaccinated man was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 5 May.

The cluster was announced by the MOH on Sunday while four cases in the cluster were also confirmed on the same day, of whom two tested preliminarily positive for the Indian variant, or B1617.

Singapore now has 11 active COVID-19 clusters, the largest being the Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) cluster, which has 43 infections linked to it.

  • T3 cleaner (fully vaccinated, prelim positive for Indian variant)

He is a 63-year-old Singaporean man who is employed by Ramky Cleantech Services as a cleaner at Changi Airport Terminal 3.

The man had received his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on 25 January, and the second dose on 15 February. He has also tested preliminarily positive for the Indian variant – or B1617 – and is pending further confirmatory tests.

The man developed a cough and flu-like symptoms on 7 May night but did not seek medical treatment. He was tested for COVID-19 on 9 May as part of proactive testing of staff working at Changi Airport Terminal 3, but did not report his symptoms when contacted by the MOH, said the ministry.

On 10 May, his test result came back positive for COVID-19. His earlier tests under the rostered routine testing regime – the last being on 13 April – were all negative for COVID-19. His serology test result is positive, said the MOH.

  • Changi General Hospital housekeeper (fully vaccinated, prelim positive for Indian variant)

She is a 43-year-old female China national who is employed by EM Services and deployed as a housekeeper at Changi General Hospital.

The woman received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on 20 January and the second dose on 10 February. She has also tested preliminarily positive for the Indian variant – or B1617 – and is pending further confirmatory tests.

The woman is a household contact of a 51-year-old female work permit holder who is employed by Ramky Cleantech Services as a cleaner deployed at Changi Airport Terminal 3. The older woman was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 8 May.

As the hospital housekeeper had been identified as a close contact of the older woman, she was placed on quarantine on 8 May. She developed a cough the next day, and reported her symptom to the MOH.

She was tested for COVID-19 and her result came back positive on 10 May. Her serology test result is positive, said the MOH.

  • Robinson77 cleaner (prelim positive for Indian variant)

She is a 46-year-old female China national who is employed by Ramky Cleantech Services as a cleaner at Robinson 77. She is a household contact of the 51-year-old woman.

She has tested preliminarily positive for the Indian variant – or B1617 – and is pending further confirmatory tests.

As she had been identified as a close contact of the older woman, she was placed on quarantine on 8 May. She developed a fever the next day and reported her symptom to the MOH that night.

She was tested for COVID-19 on 10 May and her result came back positive on the same day. Her serology test result is pending, said the MOH.

T3 premises maintenance officer (fully vaccinated, prelim positive for Indian variant)

He is a 40-year-old Malaysian man who is employed by Ramky Cleantech Services as a premises maintenance officer at Changi Airport Terminal 3.

The man received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on 22 January and the second dose on 15 February. He has also tested preliminarily positive for the Indian variant – or B1617 – and is pending further confirmatory tests.

He is a close contact of a 63-year-old colleague who is a cleaner and was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 9 May.

The younger man developed fatigue on 8 May, and cough on 9 May but did not seek medical treatment. As he had been identified as a close contact of his colleague, he was placed on quarantine on 9 May and reported his symptoms to the MOH.

He was tested for COVID-19 on the same day and his result came back positive on 10 May. His serology test result is pending, said the MOH.

  • M171 Gourmet Street Coffeeshop employee

She is a 55-year-old female Singaporean who works at M171 Gourmet Street Coffeeshop. She is the wife of a 57-year-old Singaporean man who works as an aviation officer at Changi Airport Terminal 1 and 3. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 7 May.

As she had been identified as a close contact of her husband, she was placed on quarantine on 7 May and was tested for COVID-19 on 9 May during quarantine. Her test result came back positive the next day. Her serology test result is negative, said the MOH.

  • T3 Kopitiam, Happy Hawkers cleaner

He is a 56-year-old Malaysian man who is a cleaner at Kopitiam at Changi Airport Terminal 3, and Happy Hawkers at 267 Compassvale Link.

The man developed a cough and sore throat on 9 May and sought medical treatment after work at Changi General Hospital, where he was tested for COVID-19. His result came back positive the next day. His serology test result is negative, said the MOH.

  • SBY Frozen Food Supply admin staff

She is a 33-year-old Singaporean woman who works as an administrative staff at SBY Frozen Food Supply but has been working from home for the past few months. She is a family member and household contact of a 59-year-old Singaporean man who is employed by Certis Cisco as an aviation security officer at Changi Airport Terminal 3. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 10 May.

The woman developed a runny nose on 9 May and reported her symptom when she was contacted by the MOH as she had been identified as a close contact of the man.

She was tested for COVID-19 on 9 May during quarantine, and her test result came back positive the next day. Her serology test result is negative, said the MOH.

  • Victoria Junior College student (previously reported case)

The MOH said that their epidemiological investigations have found that an 18-year-old Singaporean woman, who is a VJC student and confirmed to have COVID-19 on 7 May, is linked to the cluster at Changi Airport.

"She had been at Raffles Medical at Changi Airport Terminal 3 on 23 April, 30 April, and 3 May. She also visited Kopitiam located at Changi Airport Terminal 3 Basement 2 on 3 May," added the ministry.

Two cases from the cluster had also visited the same food court on 3 May, based on investigations, said the MOH. "She was likely to have been infected while she was at Changi Airport Terminal 3 on 3 May," it added.

With the addition of the student to the cluster, it now has 18 cases linked to it.

On Sunday, the MOH announced that Changi Airport Terminal 3 Basement 2 will be closed to the public temporarily with effect from 10 May, as an added precautionary measure.

Members of the public who had visited Changi Airport Terminal 3 on 3 May were also advised to monitor their health closely for 14 days from their date of visit.

"To pre-emptively mitigate any potential risk of wider, undetected community transmission, we will offer free COVID-19 testing for these individuals," added the ministry on Sunday.

MT ALLI bunker tank cluster: 1 new case, 7 in total

The "Case 62113" cluster is named after a 39-year-old Indonesian man who is a sea crew onboard the bunker tanker and was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 16 April.

The cluster is made of the Indonesian man and six of his contacts onboard the vessel.

Among the seven cases in the cluster, four, including the Indonesian man, were confirmed by authorities to be infected with the South African variant – or B1351 – on 4 May.

The latest case to be added to the cluster on Tuesday is a 54-year-old Indonesian man who is a sea crew member working onboard the bunker tanker. The man had not disembarked from the vessel, except to be conveyed to a dedicated quarantine facility, said the MOH.

As he had been identified as a close contact of his younger colleague he was placed on quarantine on 25 April. He was tested during quarantine on 9 May and his result came back positive for COVID-19. His serology test is negative, said the MOH.

12 imported cases, including 5 S'pore residents

Among the 12 imported cases, three are Singaporeans and two are PRs who returned from India, Malaysia, and the UK. A 58-year-old Singaporean man who returned from India is the sole imported case who is symptomatic.

Another is a dependant's pass holder who arrived from Indonesia. Three others are work pass holders who arrived from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka.

One case is a work permit holder who arrived from India.

The remaining two cases are short-term visit pass holders, of whom one arrived from Japan for a work project in Singapore while the other arrived from Indonesia to visit her family member who is a PR.

All 12 imported cases were placed on the stay-home notice upon their arrival in Singapore and were tested while serving their notice.

"The arrivals from the Indian sub-continent had already come into Singapore before the restrictions on travel were imposed," said the MOH.

With effect from 11.59pm on 23 April, all long-term pass holders and short-term visitors with recent travel history to India are not allowed entry into or transit through Singapore, due to a surge in COVID-19 cases there.

The same border control measure has been extended to travellers with recent travel history to Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka with effect from 11.59pm on 1 May.

As of 3 May, there are 504 cases – 29 local cases and 475 imported – of various strains in Singapore. Of the 29 cases, 10 have been infected with the Indian variants, including five in the TTSH cluster.

99% of total cases have recovered, 3 in ICU

With 22 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Tuesday, 60,975 cases – or 99.3 per cent of the total – have fully recovered from the infection.

Most of the 144 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, while three of them are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

A total of 253 patients – with mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive – are isolated and cared for at community facilities.

Apart from the 31 patients who have died from COVID-19 complications, 15 others who tested positive for the virus were determined to have died from unrelated causes, including three whose deaths were attributed to a heart attack and another four, whose deaths were attributed to coronary heart disease.

Among the 151 confirmed cases reported from 5 to 11 May, 69 cases have tested positive for their serology tests, 60 have tested negative, and 22 serology test results are pending.

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