COVID-19: 39 new cases detected in Singapore; 11 linked to TTSH cluster
SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Sunday (2 May) confirmed the detection of 39 new cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore, taking the country's total case count to 61,218.
There are 14 cases of locally transmitted infections among the new cases, 13 of whom are linked to past cases, said the ministry in a news release. Eleven of these newly detected infections are linked to the Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) cluster of cases and were detected through proactive testing of patients, visitors and staff at the hospital.
MOH said there are also 25 new imported cases, all of whom have been placed on Stay-Home Notice (SHN) or isolated since their arrival in Singapore. Out of this group, 10 are Singaporeans or permanent residents, while three are foreign domestic workers.
Unlinked local case is a foreign domestic worker
The unlinked community case is a 37-year-old female India national who is a foreign domestic worker.
She arrived from India on 13 January and served SHN at a dedicated facility until 27 January. Her test taken on 26 January during SHN was negative for COVID-19.
Following her SHN, she was deployed to her employer’s place of residence. She is asymptomatic, and was detected when she took a COVID-19 pre-departure test on 29 April in preparation for her return to India. Her test result came back positive the next day, and she was conveyed to Mount Elizabeth Hospital in an ambulance.
Her Ct value was very high, which is indicative of a low viral load, and her serology test result has come back positive. She could be shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA from a past infection which are no longer transmissible and infective to others, "but given that we are not able to definitively conclude when she had been infected, we will take all the necessary public health actions as a precautionary measure", the MOH said.
Case 62553 cluster
There is one new case linked to the Case 62553 – a 39-year-old female Vietnam national who works as a cleaner deployed at a community care facility at Tuas South; she was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 28 April – cluster.
The case is a 53-year-old female Malaysia national who works as a hairstylist at Me To Do Studio (883 Woodlands Street 82). She is a household contact of Cases 62629 and 62638. As she had been identified as a close contact of Case 62638, she was placed on quarantine on 29 April and conveyed to a dedicated facility the next day.
On 1 May, she developed a sore throat and was tested for COVID-19 upon reporting her symptom. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection the next day. Her serology test result is negative.
Case 62517 cluster
There is one new case linked to the Case 62517 – a 38-year-old male Singaporean who works as an ICA officer deployed at Changi Airport Terminal 1 who was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 27 April – cluster.
The case is a 32-year-old male Singaporean who works as an Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer deployed at the Home Team Academy. He was last at work on 26 April.
As he had been identified as a close contact of 62517, he was placed on quarantine on 27 April. He was tested for COVID-19 during quarantine on 28 April and his result was negative. On 1 May, he was tested again and this time, his test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection. His serology test result is pending. This officer received his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on 27 January, and the second dose on 17 February.
TTSH cluster
In total, there are now 27 cases linked to the TTSH cluster, with 11 new cases added on Sunday.
Discharged patients
Five new cases – Cases 62713, 62714, 62717, 62723 and 62724 – linked to the TTSH cluster were discharged patients who had been warded in TTSH Ward 9D. They were placed on quarantine and tested positive for COVID-19 infection during quarantine.
Case 62713 is a 65-year-old female Singaporean who had been warded in TTSH Ward 9D from 21 April to 25 April, and was discharged on 26 April. On 29 April, she was placed on quarantine and tested for COVID-19 on 30 April. On the same day, she developed a fever but did not report her symptom. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 1 May.
Case 62714 is a 60-year-old female Singaporean who had been warded in TTSH Ward 9D from 20 April to 26 April, and was discharged on 27 April. She was swabbed for COVID-19 infection during her hospital stay and tested negative twice on 20 April and 21 April. On 29 April, she was placed on quarantine and tested for COVID-19 on 30 April. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 1 May.
Case 62717 is an 89-year-old female Singaporean who had been warded in TTSH Ward 9D from 7 April to 21 April, and was discharged on 22 April. On 29 April, she was placed on quarantine and tested for COVID-19 on 30 April. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 1 May.
Case 62723 is an 84-year-old male Singaporean who is the spouse of Case 62680 – an 86-year-old female Singaporean who was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 30 April – and had been warded at TTSH Ward 9D from 20 April to 22 April. On 29 April, he was placed on quarantine and tested for COVID-19 on 30 April. His test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 1 May. On the same day, he developed a fever and shortness of breath.
Case 62724 is a 79-year-old male Singaporean who had been warded in TTSH Ward 9D from 21 April to 26 April, and was discharged on 27 April. On 29 April, he was placed on quarantine and tested for COVID-19 on 30 April. His test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 1 May.
Current patients
Two new cases are patients who were warded in TTSH Ward 9D when Case 62541 – a female nurse – was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection, and were tested as part of the MOH's active case-finding while hospitalised.
Case 62732 is a 98-year-old female Singaporean who had been warded in TTSH Ward 9D from 27 April to 29 April. She was tested for COVID-19 on 28 April and her test came back negative. She was subsequently transferred to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) on 29 April, and swabbed again on 30 April. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 1 May.
Case 62754 is a 90-year-old female Singaporean who had been warded in TTSH Ward 9D from 26 April to 28 April. She was tested for COVID-19 on 28 April and her test came back negative. She was subsequently transferred to NCID on 28 April, and swabbed again on 30 April. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 1 May. On 2 May, she developed a fever.
Visitors to TTSH
Cases 62715, 62721 and 62722 were visitors to TTSH Ward 9D between 18 April and 28 April. They were placed on quarantine and tested positive for COVID-19 infection during quarantine.
Case 62715 is a 50-year-old female Singaporean who is a family member of Case 62573 – an 88-year-old female Singaporean who had been warded in TTSH Ward 9D from 14 April to 28 April; she was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 28 April – and had visited Case 62573 in TTSH Ward 9D. On 29 April, she developed a cough and sore throat but did not seek medical treatment. As she had been identified as a close contact of Case 62573, she was placed on quarantine on the same day, but did not report her symptoms. She was tested for COVID-19 on 30 April and her test result came back positive the next day.
Case 62721 is a 25-year-old female Singaporean who is a family member of Cases 62714 and 62722, and had visited Case 62714 at Ward 9D. As she had been identified as a close contact of Case 62714, she was placed on quarantine on 29 April. She was tested for COVID-19 on 30 April and her test result came back positive the next day.
Case 62722 is a 58-year-old male Singaporean who is a family member of Cases 62714 and 62721, and had visited Case 62714 at Ward 9D. As he had been identified as a close contact of Case 62714, he was placed on quarantine on 30 April and tested for COVID-19 on the same day. His test result came back positive the next day.
TTSH physiotherapist
The final new case in the TTSH cluster is Case 62731, a 27-year-old female Malaysia national who works as a physiotherapist at TTSH Ward 9D. On 29 April, she was placed on quarantine and tested for COVID-19 on 30 April. On the same day, she developed a runny nose and reported her symptom on 1 May. Her test result came back positive for COVID19 infection on 1 May.
Update on testing operations at TTSH
TTSH has completed the swabbing of all inpatients in their main wards on 30 April and the results are all negative. TTSH will also be testing all 12,000 staff on campus. To date, the hospital has swabbed 7,000 staff and priority will be given to swab staff working in clinical areas over the next few days.
Details of the imported cases
Among the 25 imported cases:
Two are Singaporeans and eight are Singapore permanent residents who returned from India.
Four are dependant’s pass holders who arrived from Nepal.
Two are work pass holders who arrived from Nepal and the US.
Five are work permit holders who arrived from Bangladesh, India and the Philippines, of whom three are foreign domestic workers.
Two short-term visit pass holders who arrived from Indonesia. One of them is here for a work project and the other was already receiving medical care in Singapore and had returned for further treatment.
Two special pass holders who are sea crew. They arrived from China on a vessel, and were tested onboard without disembarking.
99% of total cases have recovered
With 21 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Sunday, 60,786 cases – or 99.3 per cent of the total – have fully recovered from the infection.
Most of the 126 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, while none is in the intensive care unit.
A total of 275 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 212 confirmed cases reported from 26 April to 2 May, 70 cases have tested positive for their serology tests, 101 have tested negative, and 41 serology test results are pending.
Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased from 10 cases in the week before to 51 cases in the past week, the ministry said. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from three cases in the week before to 11 cases in the past week.
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