COVID: 4 cases linked to new JEM/Westgate cluster; total 25 new cases
SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Sunday (23 May) confirmed the detection of 25 new cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore, taking the country's total case count to 61,824.
There are 22 new cases of locally transmitted COVID-19 infection, out of whom 19 are linked to previous cases, say MOH in a news release. Of the linked cases, 12 have already been placed on quarantine.
Of the new local cases, 21 are in the community and one resides in a migrant worker dormitory.
There are also three new imported cases, all of whom have been placed on Stay-Home Notice since their arrival in Singapore.
Among the new cases, 10 are asymptomatic, and were detected from proactive screening and surveillance, while 15 were symptomatic.
Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased from 131 cases in the week before to 182 cases in the past week, the ministry said. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from 30 cases in the week before to 46 cases in the past week.
The two unlinked cases, both female Singaporean homemakers who are fully vaccinated, are:
a 60-year-old woman who is asymptomatic, but was detected when she was tested for COVID-19 as part of MOH's testing operations for residents of 506 Hougang Avenue 8 (fully vaccinated)
a 74-year-old woman who sought medical treatment for body aches, vomiting and chills (fully vaccinated)
2 new clusters
The ministry announced two new clusters, including the JEM/Westgate cluster where special testing operations are ongoing for visitors who had been to the malls from 1 to 14 May. The two malls are also closed for two weeks from Sunday and are due to re-open on 6 June.
1. JEM/Westgate cluster:
The first case linked to this cluster is a 39-year-old Malaysian woman who is employed by Eng Leng Contractors Pte Ltd as a cleaner at Westgate shopping mall. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 22 May, after she was tested as part of the special testing operations.
A case that was announced on Sunday, she is also preliminarily positive for the B1617 variant.
The other cases linked to this cluster, announced on Sunday, are:
a 31-year-old male India national who works as a delivery truck driver at YHI Corporation Pte Ltd; he was tested as part of the special testing operations
a 44-year-old male India national who works at BlackRock Advisors Singapore Pte Ltd; he was tested as part of the special testing operations (preliminarily positive for the B1617 variant)
a 59-year-old Singaporean man who works as a music teacher at Yamaha Music School
2. "Case 63392" cluster: Case 63392 is a 39-year-old Singaporean woman who is a manager at Corner Stone Global Partners Pte Ltd. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 17 May.
The latest case to be added to this cluster, announced on Sunday, is a 48-year-old Singaporean man who is self-employed and works from home. He is a family member of the woman and had already been quarantined.
The remaining 14 linked cases are:
a 7-year-old Singaporean boy who is a student at St Stephen’s School and was last in school on 12 May
a 45-year-old male Philippines national who is an engineer at STMicroelectronics Pte Ltd, and was last at work on 8 May
a 67-year-old Singaporean woman who is employed by Hong Ye Group Pte Ltd as a cleaner at Changi Business Park
a 32-year-old female Singapore permanent resident who works as a hairdresser at 98 Hair House Pte Ltd, and was last at work on 17 May
a 31-year-old male China national who works as a delivery rider for McDonald’s (Pasir Ris Elias Community Club)
a 27-year-old male Malaysia national who works as a delivery rider for McDonald’s (Pasir Ris Elias Community Club)
a 27-year-old female Singaporean who works in an administrative role at St Luke’s Hospital, and was last at work on 12 May (fully vaccinated)
a 78-year-old Singaporean woman who is a homemaker
a 4 year-old Singaporean girl who is a student at Heart Field Kindergarten and had last gone to school on 12 May
a 41-year-old Singaporean man who works as a manager at Sure Clean Pte Ltd, and was last at work on 12 May
a 38-year-old male Myanmar national who works as an engineer at Asia Medical Enviro Services Pte Ltd and had last gone to work on 19 May (fully vaccinated)
a 29-year-old Indonesian woman who is a foreign domestic worker
an 84-year-old Singaporean woman who is a homemaker (fully vaccinated)
a 52-year-old Singaporean man who works as a delivery driver at RichLand Logistics Services Pte Ltd (received first dose of COVID vaccine)
Sole case living in a migrant worker dormitory
He is a 46-year-old Malaysian man who works as a construction worker at H&W Communications Pte Ltd. He resides at Harvest @ Woodlands (280 Woodlands Industrial Park E5). He is asymptomatic, and was detected when he was tested on 22 May as part of Rostered Routine Testing (RRT). His earlier tests from RRT – the last being on 8 May – were negative for COVID-19 infection. His serology test result is negative.
Imported cases include 2 PRs
Among the three imported cases:
two are Singapore permanent residents who returned from India
one is a work permit holder who arrived from Malaysia
99% of total cases have recovered, 3 in ICU
With 17 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Sunday, 61,294 cases – or 99.2 per cent of the total – have fully recovered from the infection.
Most of the 242 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, while three of them are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
A total of 256 patients – with mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive – are isolated and cared for at community facilities.
Apart from the 32 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 239 confirmed cases reported from 17 to 23 May, 52 cases have tested positive for their serology tests, 150 have tested negative, and 37 serology test results are pending.
Read more about Singapore's Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) restrictions here.
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