IT engineer at Deutsche Bank sole COVID community case; 9 imported

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed 10 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore on Friday (12 March), taking the country's total case count to 60,080.

There is one new case of locally-transmitted infection in the community, while the remaining nine are imported.

The sole community and only asymptomatic case on Friday is a 36-year-old male Indian national who is a work pass holder.

The man, currently unlinked to other cases, arrived from India on 16 January and served his stay-home notice at a dedicated facility until 30 January. His test taken on 29 January during the notice was negative for COVID-19.

He works as an IT engineer at Deutsche Bank but has been working from home since his arrival here, said the MOH.

He developed a runny nose on 1 March and sought medical treatment at a general practitioner clinic on the same day.

"As he declined to be tested for COVID-19, he was given five days of medical leave and advised to return for a test if he did not recover," the ministry added.

He was subsequently detected on 11 March when he took a COVID-19 pre-departure test in preparation for his trip to India. His test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on the same day, and he was conveyed to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases in an ambulance.

His serological test result has come back positive, which indicates a likely past infection.

Epidemiological investigations are ongoing and all his identified close contacts, including household contacts, have been isolated and placed on quarantine, and will be tested at the start and end of their quarantine period.

Serological tests will also be conducted on his close contacts to determine if he could have been infected by them.

"We strongly urge everyone to play their part to reduce the risk of transmission. Those who are advised by their doctor to be tested for COVID-19 should do so, even if they are showing early or mild symptoms," the MOH said.

Several places added to list of venues visited by community cases

The ministry added seven places to a list of public venues visited by community cases while they are in their infectious period. They are Sankranti Restaurant at 79 Syed Alwi Road, SPA De LIGHT and Xin Zai Zhi Jian 2 at The Midtown, Komala Vilas at 76-78 Serangoon Road, Sengkang Community Club, Toast Box at Bugis Junction and Raj Restaurant at 20 Biopolis Way.

These places were visited between 6 to 11 March. Komala Vilas was visited twice on 7 and 9 March.

The MOH also noted that the number of new cases in the community has remained stable at three cases per week in the past two weeks. The number of unlinked cases in the community has increased from two in the week before to three cases in the past week.

Amongst the nine imported cases, one is a student's pass holder who arrived from Indonesia. Two others are work pass holders who arrived from Indonesia and Switzerland.

Four of the cases are work permit holders who arrived from Indonesia and the Philippines, all of whom are foreign domestic workers.

The remaining two cases are short-term visit pass holders who arrived from Cambodia and Indonesia. They were already receiving medical care in Singapore and had returned for further treatment.

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

99% of total cases have recovered, 1 in ICU

With 11 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Friday, 59,950 cases – or 99.8 per cent of the total – have fully recovered from the infection.

Most of the 21 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, with one of them in the intensive care unit.

A total of 80 patients – with mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive – are isolated and cared for at community facilities.

Apart from 29 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.

Amongst the 73 confirmed cases reported from 6 to 12 March, 39 cases have tested positive for their serology tests, 29 have tested negative, and five serology test results are pending.

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