Wuhan virus: Third suspected case, 69-year-old man, detected in Singapore
SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Thursday (16 January) that it had been notified of a 69-year-old Singaporean man with pneumonia who had travelled to the Chinese city of Wuhan, where a mysterious virus has afflicted dozens and left one person dead.
“He has been admitted for further assessment and treatment, and isolated as a precautionary measure. His condition is stable,” said MOH.
The man is the third person with pneumonia and a travel history to Wuhan to have been placed under observation here. Earlier tests conducted on two Chinese nationals – a three-year-old girl and 26-year-old man – found that they did not have the same strain of virus as that detected in Wuhan.
In the latest case, the ministry said that the man had not visited the Huanan seafood wholesale market linked to the Wuhan pneumonia cluster.
“Investigations to establish whether the suspect case is linked to the Wuhan pneumonia cluster are ongoing,” said MOH.
Since the first case of infection was detected in China on 24 December, 59 people have been infected with the virus – which has since been "preliminarily determined" to be a new type of coronavirus, and from the same family as the deadly Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
A 61-year-old man in China has since become the first person to die of the virus.
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