Of 30 new COVID cases in Singapore, 15 in community

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Friday (28 May) confirmed 30 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore, taking the country's total case count to 61,970.

Of them, 15 are local cases in the community. Eleven are linked to previous cases, among whom eight have already been placed on quarantine. Fifteen remaining cases are imported.

Friday marks the 33rd consecutive day with local cases reported. "Amongst the new cases today, 17 are asymptomatic, and were detected from our proactive screening and surveillance, while 13 were symptomatic," said the MOH.

The ministry also announced three new clusters. Additionally, it announced the closure of the National University of Singapore and Immigration & Checkpoints Authority clusters, 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 36.

The four unlinked community cases are:

• a 28-year-old Malaysian man employed by I-VIC Logistic as a delivery rider for McDonald’s (Hougang Avenue 8) (Had not been cross-deployed to other outlets)

• a 38-year-old female PR who works at Sri Murugan Trading (Anchorvale)

• a 49-year-old male PR who works as a manager at Success Consultancy (received first dose of vaccine)

• a 62-year-old Singaporean man who is a retiree (fully vaccinated)

Separately, there is one case who is a family member and household contact of a previously-reported infection but is not part of any active clusters yet. The 26-year-old Singaporean woman works as an administrative staff at Singtel and was placed on quarantine on 24 May.

The ministry noted that the number of new cases in the community has decreased from 196 in the week before to 137 in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also decreased from 46 in the week before to 23 in the past week.

Several new places have also been added to the list of public venues visited by infectious community cases, including Chinatown Point, Sri Murugan Trading at 308 Anchorvale Road and PLQ Mall.

Three new clusters, 36 in total

Of the 36 active clusters, the largest is Changi Airport's 108-case cluster, followed by 60 cases in the Jem/Westgate cluster. The three new clusters announced on Friday are:

1. Chevy’s Bar and Bistro cluster, 4 in total: It was first linked to a 58-year-old Singaporean woman who works at the bar and was confirmed have COVID-19 on 25 May.
   
   The two new cases on Friday are a 55-year-old Singaporean man who is a senior officer at NParks and fully-vaccinated, and a 23-year-old Singaporean man who works as a waiter at Royz Et Vouz (39 Sultan Gate). Both are family members of cases in the cluster. The older man was placed on quarantine on 24 May.
   

2. 'Case 63714' cluster, 3 in total: It is named after the case number of a 74-year-old Singaporean man who is a retiree and was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 24 May. The third case to be added to the cluster is a 33-year-old Singaporean woman who works as a manager at CIMB Bank (Raffles Branch), and a family member of the other cases. She was placed on quarantine on 24 May.
   

3. 'Case 63466' cluster, 3 in total: It is named after the case number of a 59 year-old female Singaporean who works at Mary Fashion and Trading. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 19 May. The third case to be added is a 56-year-old Singaporean man who works at Chai & Chai Trading. He is a family member and household contact of a case in the cluster and was placed on quarantine on 23 May.

McDonald’s delivery riders cluster: 3 new cases, 18 in total

The cluster was first linked to a 27-year-old Malaysian man who works as a delivery rider for IVIC Logistic and McDonald’s (Bedok Reservoir). He was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 20 May. Four cases in the cluster work at a Pizza Hut outlet at Punggol Plaza.

All three new cases had been quarantined earlier and are household contacts of previously confirmed infections in the cluster:

• a 33-year-old Malaysian man who works as a kitchen assistant at Pano Kato Grill, Pizza & Deli

• a 40-year-old Singaporean woman who works at Wanderloft Capsule Hotel

• a 21-year-old Malaysian man who works as a packer at DM Wines

Hong Ye Group cleaners cluster: 3 new cases, 9 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 family members or household contacts of previously reported cases in the cluster. They are:

• a 10-year-old Singaporean boy who is a Lee Kong Chian Gardens School student (quarantined earlier)

• a 12-year-old Singaporean girl who is a New Town Primary School student

• a 37-year-old Singaporean woman who works as a part-time cleaner at ABBA Maintenance

15 imported cases, including 8 S'pore residents

Amongst them, two are Singaporeans and six are PRs who returned from India and the Philippines.

Six other are work permit holders who arrived from Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar, of whom three are foreign domestic workers.

The remaining case is a short-term visit pass holder who arrived from Indonesia for a work project here.

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

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, 3 in ICU

With 35 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Friday, 61,407 cases – or 99.1 per cent of the total – have fully recovered from the infection.

Most of the 241 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, while three of them are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

A total of 290 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 200 confirmed cases reported from 22 to 28 May, 38 cases have tested positive for their serology tests, 111 have tested negative, and 51 serology test results are pending.

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