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34 of 38 new COVID cases in Singapore community infections

A worker prepares takeaway food orders at a restaurant along Boat Quay in Singapore on May 19, 2021, as the country increased restrictions over concerns in a rise in the number of Covid-19 coronavirus cases. (Photo by Roslan RAHMAN / AFP) (Photo by ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
A worker prepares takeaway food orders at a restaurant along Boat Quay in Singapore on 19 May, 2021. (PHOTO: AFP via Getty Images)

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed 38 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore on Wednesday (19 May), taking the country's total case count to 61,689.

Of them, 34 are local transmissions in the community, of whom 30 are linked to previous cases. Among them, 28 had already been placed on quarantine earlier.

Four remaining cases are imported, of whom three are returning Singaporeans or permanent residents.

Wednesday marks the 24th consecutive day with local cases reported.

The authorities also confirmed five new clusters, bringing the total number of active clusters in Singapore to 24. The five-cluster at the Sengkang General Hospital was removed from the list on Tuesday, with its infections now accounted for in the Changi Airport cluster. The latter now has 95 cases linked to it and is the biggest cluster – inactive or active – to date recorded in Singapore.

The four unlinked cases in the community, aged between 24 to 45, are:

  • a 45-year-old Singaporean man who is a safe distancing ambassador deployed at Westgate (fully vaccinated)

  • a 45-year-old Singaporean man who works as a deliveryman at Fairfield Book Publishers

  • a 24-year-old Singaporean woman who works as a basic care assistant at Alexandra Hospital

  • a 28-year-old Singaporean man who works as an engineer at Patec

Separately, there are five cases linked to previous infections, including a 33-year-old Singaporean woman who works as a preschool teacher at My First Skool (235 Bukit Panjang).

The woman, who had been earlier quarantined, is a family member and household contact of the employee at Fairfield Book Publisher. She has received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The other four cases are also family members and household contacts of previous infections:

  • a 32-year-old Singaporean man who works as a software engineer at M-DAQ (quarantined earlier; linked to case who tested preliminarily positive for B.1.617 variant)

  • a 39-year-old Singaporean man who is a pastor at Hearts Alive Church (quarantined earlier)

  • a 53-year-old Singaporean woman who is a homemaker (quarantined earlier)

  • a 34-year-old Malaysian woman who works as a Jetstar Asia Airways flight stewardess (fully vaccinated)

5 new clusters, linked to 3 to 5 cases each

1. Jin Tai Tong Food Industries cluster, 5 in total: It was first linked to a 55-year-old Singaporean man who works as a warehouse assistant at Jin Tai Mart and was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 15 May.

Of the four remaining cases linked to the cluster, three work at Jin Tai Tong Food Industries, including two new cases on Wednesday: a 26-year-old Vietnamese man and a 39-year-old male China national who both work as warehouse assistants there. Both had been quarantined earlier.

2. "Case 63319" cluster, 4 in total: The first case linked to it is a 77-year-old Singaporean woman who is a homemaker and was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 15 May.

All three new cases linked to the cluster on Wednesday are her family or household contacts, or both, and had been quarantined earlier. They are:

  • a 44-year-old Filipino woman who is a foreign domestic worker

  • a 15-year-old Singaporean man who is a Yu Ying Secondary School student

  • a 48-year-old Singaporean man who works as a logistics officer at Ceva Logistics

3. Sms Infocomm cluster, 3 in total: The first case linked to the cluster is a 54-year-old Malaysian woman who works at Sms Infocomm (Singapore) and was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 15 May. She had tested preliminarily positive for the India variant, or B.1.617, and is pending further confirmatory tests.

All three cases linked to the cluster work at the company, including the latest to be added to the cluster on Wednesday: a 29-year-old Malaysian woman who had been quarantined earlier.

4. "Case 63292" cluster, 3 in total: The first case linked to it is a 29-year-old Singaporean man who works as a digital web designer and was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 15 May. He had tested preliminarily positive for the India variant, or B.1.617.

The two new cases linked to the cluster on Wednesday are his family members and close contacts, both of whom had been quarantined earlier: a fully vaccinated Singaporean man, 65, who works at SP Trading, and a Singaporean woman, 64, who is a homemaker.

5. "Case 63336" cluster, 3 in total: It was first linked to a 22-year-old Singaporean woman who works at Invade Industry and was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 16 May. The third case confirmed on Wednesday is her close contact, a 48-year-old Singaporean man who works as a personal chauffeur.

Changi Airport cluster: 7 new cases + 1 previous case linked; 95 in total

With seven new infections linked to it on Wednesday, the Changi Airport cluster, or the "Case 62873" cluster, is now linked to 94 cases and the largest of 24 active clusters in Singapore. At least 22 cases in the cluster have tested preliminarily positive for the India variant, or B.1.617.

The 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.

All seven new cases, aged between 11 and 62, have been quarantined and only one of them works at Changi Airport. All of them are either family members or household contacts, or both, of cases in the cluster:

  • a 62-year-old Singaporean man who works as an attendant at T3 (fully vaccinated)

  • an 11-year-old Singaporean boy who is a St Stephen’s School student

  • a 12-year-old Singaporean girl who is a White Sands Primary School student

  • a 12-year-old Singaporean girl who is a St Anthony Canossian Primary School student

  • a 31-year-old Filipino woman who works part-time as a serving staff at Nana’s Green Tea at DUO Galleria

  • a 33-year-old female China national who is an inspection officer at AFPD

  • a 46-year-old Singaporean man who works as a swimming coach

Learning Point cluster: 3 new cases; 27 in total

The "Case 63131" cluster is named after the case number of a 50-year-old Singaporean woman who works as a tutor at Learning Point at Parkway Centre and was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 12 May.

All three new cases linked to the cluster on Wednesday have been quarantined. All of them, aged between six and 69, are either family members or household contacts, or both, of previously reported cases in the cluster:

  • a 6-year-old male PR who is a Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan Kindergarten student

  • a 39-year-old male PR who is self-employed

  • a 69-year-old Singaporean woman who is a retiree

Changi Prison Complex cluster: 3 new cases; 7 in total

The cluster at the prison was first linked to a 39-year-old male China national who is employed by SATS Food Services as a chef at its complex. The fully-vaccinated man was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 13 May.

All three new cases linked to the cluster on Wednesday have been quarantined and are male prison inmates aged 28, 46, and 56. The latest addition brings the total number of inmates in the cluster to four.

Marina Bay Sands Casino cluster: 1 new case; 4 in total

The cluster at the casino was first linked to a 36-year-old Malaysian man who works as a dealer there and was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 16 May. One of the cases in the cluster, a household contact and the sole infection who is not working at the casino, had tested preliminarily positive for the India variant, or B.1.617.

The latest case to be added to the cluster on Wednesday is a third employee at the casino: a 32-year-old Malaysian woman who works as a dealer there.

"Case 63236", "Case 63290" clusters: 1 new case each

Both clusters were among four new ones announced on Tuesday. A 39-year-old female Filipino woman who is a foreign domestic worker was added to the "Case 63236" cluster on Wednesday, which now has four cases including one who tested preliminarily positive for the India variant, or B.1.617.

A 36-year-old female PR who is a preschool teacher at Safari House (Lakeside) was added to the "Case 63290" cluster, which now has three cases. Both women had been quarantined earlier.

The MOH noted that the number of new cases in the community has increased from 49 in the week before to 187 in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from nine in the week before to 49 in the past week.

Several new places have also been added to the list of public venues visited by infectious community cases, including Mustafa Centre, MEIDI-YA supermarket at Great World City, Takashimaya, and the Cathay Photo flagship store at Peninsula Plaza.

Among the four imported cases, one is a Singaporean, and two are PRs who returned from India, Indonesia, and the US. The remaining case is a short-term visit pass holder who arrived from Japan for a work project in Singapore.

All of them were placed on the stay-home notice upon their arrival here and were tested while serving the notice.

99% of total cases have recovered, 5 in ICU

With 49 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Wednesday, 61,183 cases – or 99.2 per cent of the total – have fully recovered from the infection.

Most of the 221 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, while five of them are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

A total of 254 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 270 confirmed cases reported from 13 to 19 May, 77 cases have tested positive for their serology tests, 163 have tested negative, and 30 serology test results are pending.

Read more about Singapore's Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) restrictions here.

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