Of 24 new COVID cases in Singapore, 15 are local infections

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Thursday (27 May) confirmed 24 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore, taking the country's total case count to 61,940.

Of them, 15 are local cases: 14 are in the community and one resides in a migrant worker dormitory. Twelve are linked to previous cases, all of whom have already been placed on quarantine. Nine remaining cases are imported.

Thursday marks the 32nd consecutive day with local cases reported. "Amongst the new cases today, 15 are asymptomatic, and were detected from our proactive screening and surveillance, while nine were symptomatic," said the MOH.

The ministry also identified two new COVID-19 clusters. Additionally, it announced the closure of the "Case 62049" cluster, linked to five cases, as there have been no cases linked to it for the past two incubation periods or 28 days. This brings the total number of active clusters in Singapore to 35.

The sole dorm case, currently unlinked, is a resident of the Woodlands Lodge who has received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The 42-year-old Bangladeshi man is employed by Teng Feng Engineering and works at Harvest @ Woodlands. The MOH said that the man reported that he had not interacted with the five cases linked to the Harvest @ Woodlands cluster.

The two unlinked cases in the community are:

• a 43-year-old Singaporean woman who works at GovTech

• a 67-year-old Singaporean man who is a retiree

Separately, there are two cases linked to other infections but are not part of any active clusters yet. Both had been quarantined earlier. One is a family member and a household contact of a previously reported case, while the other is a workplace and household contact of another case:

• a 55-year-old Singaporean man who works as a freelance handyman (received first dose of vaccine)

• a 50-year-old Singaporean man who works at Assalaamu’alaikum Enterprise

The MOH noted that the number of new cases in the community has decreased from 190 in the week before to 152 in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also decreased from 43 in the week before to 26 in the past week.

Several new places have also been added to the list of public venues visited by infectious community cases, including Lucky Plaza, a FairPrice Xtra outlet at NEX, a POSB outlet at Tiong Bahru Plaza, and a KFC outlet at Keat Hong Shopping Centre.

Two new clusters, 35 in total

Of the 35 active clusters, the largest is Changi Airport's 108-case cluster, followed by 60 cases in the Jem/Westgate cluster. Two new clusters announced on Thursday are:

1. 'Case 63446' cluster, 3 in total: The cluster is named after the case number of a 28-year-old Singaporean man who works as an engineer at Patec and was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 18 May. The third case added to it is a 55-year-old Singaporean man who works as a dispatch rider at MV Credit. He is a family member and household contact of the younger man, and was placed on quarantine on 18 May.

2. Tektronix cluster, 3 in total: The cluster was first linked to a 50-year-old Singaporean man who works as an engineer at Tektronix Southeast Asia and was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 24 May. All three cases in the cluster are each other's workplace contacts. The latest case added to the cluster is a 43-year-old male permanent resident who was placed on quarantine on 25 May.

Pacific Law Corporation cluster, 3 new cases, 7 in total

The first case linked to it is a 57-year-old female Singaporean who works as an administrative personnel at the company and was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 16 May.

All three new cases are family members and household contacts of previously reported cases in the cluster and had been quarantined earlier:

• a 76-year-old Singaporean man who is employed by Clean Solutions as a cleaner at Henry Park Primary School (fully vaccinated)

• a 74-year-old Singaporean woman who is a homemaker (fully vaccinated)

• a 43-year-old Singaporean man who works as a retail assistant at Alpha Audio

Hong Ye Group cleaners cluster, 3 new cases, 6 in total

The first case linked to the cluster, one of two first identified on Wednesday, is a 31-year-old Singaporean man who is employed by the company as a cleaner at Changi Business Park. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 19 May.

All three new cases are either workplace or close contacts of previously reported cases in the cluster and had been quarantined earlier. They are employed by the company as cleaners at Changi Business Park:

• a 25-year-old Singaporean man

• a 58-year-old Singaporean man

• a 56-year-old Singaporean woman

Changi Prison Complex cluster: 1 new case, 13 in total

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

The latest addition, a 61-year-old Singaporean man who is a prison inmate there, brings the total number of inmates in the cluster to 10. The fully-vaccinated man had tested negative for COVID-19 in five prior tests.

'Case 63708' cluster, 1 new case, 4 in total

The cluster, one of two first identified on Wednesday, is named after a 15-year-old Singaporean boy who is a Westwood Secondary School student and was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 24 May.

The fourth case added to the cluster is a 53-year-old Singaporean man who works as a driver at Kim Transport and a part-time private hire car driver with Grab. He is a household contact and family member of two previously reported cases in the cluster. The man was placed on quarantine on 24 May.

9 imported cases, including 7 S'pore residents

Among the nine imported cases, five are Singaporeans, including an 80-year-old woman, and two are PRs who returned from India. Another is a short-term visit pass holder who arrived from Indonesia to visit her Singaporean family member.

The remaining case is a special pass holder who is a sea crew member. The man arrived from Indonesia on a vessel and was tested when he was hospitalised for a medical condition that was unrelated to COVID-19.

All imported cases were placed on the stay-home notice or isolated upon their arrival here.

In a separate press release on Thursday, the MOH announced that from 11.59pm on 29 May, Singaporeans, PRs, and long-term pass holders entering Singapore with travel history to Victoria State, Australia within the last 21 days before departure for Singapore, will be subject to an on-arrival COVID-19 PCR test, a seven-day stay-home notice at their place of residence, and a COVID-19 PCR test before the end of the notice period.

Additionally, short-term travellers holding an air travel pass with travel history to Victoria State, Australia within the last 21 days before departure for Singapore, will not be allowed to enter Singapore.

From 11.59pm on 29 May, the pre-departure testing requirement will also be extended to all Singapore residents. This means Singaporeans and PRs entering or transiting through Singapore, except for those who have stayed in lower-risk countries or regions throughout the last 21 days before departure for Singapore, will need to present a valid negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours before departure for Singapore.

99% of total cases have recovered, 2 in ICU

With 12 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Thursday, 61,372 cases – or 99.1 per cent of the total – have fully recovered from the infection.

Most of the 245 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, while two of them are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

A total of 291 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 210 confirmed cases reported from 21 to 27 May, 46 cases have tested positive for their serology tests, 137 have tested negative, and 27 serology test results are pending.

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