New cluster at Westlite Woodlands dormitory room with 5 COVID-19 cases 'likely' reinfections
Two of these workers were probably infected while overseas and passed the virus to their roommates, said MOH.
View of Westlite Woodlands Dormitory on Apr 22, 2021. (Photo: Chew Hui Min)
SINGAPORE: Five COVID-19 cases who are "likely" reinfections have been found at Westlite Woodlands dormitory as part of special testing operations, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Tuesday (Apr 27).
The five cases occupied the same room at the dormitory together with Cases 62181 and 62225, residents who have previously tested positive for COVID-19, forming a new cluster.
Two of the five reinfected cases had arrived from Bangladesh on Apr 6, said MOH.
"Our epidemiological investigations found that they were likely to have been infected while overseas, and passed the infection to the others in the room.
"Further epidemiological investigations are ongoing at their workplace," said the ministry.
READ: Measures put in place at Westlite Woodlands dormitory after 17 recovered workers test positive for COVID-19 again
The five men are part of 24 recovered workers who have been found to be positive for the coronavirus as part of special testing operations for residents in the Westlite Woodlands dormitory.
The tests were done as part of investigations into Case 62181, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Apr 19, MOH said in its nightly COVID-19 update.
The cases were immediately isolated and taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, MOH said.
The workers were not included in Tuesday's new case numbers.
The ministry said that 11 of the 24 cases have been assessed to be shedding virus fragments, two of them are negative upon retesting, while the remaining six cases are pending assessment by an expert panel.
READ: Sole dormitory COVID-19 case unlinked to other cases at Westlite Woodlands dorm; worker ‘likely’ caught virus overseas
READ: Dormitory residents who have recovered from COVID-19 no longer exempt from routine testing
MOH reported 12 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore on Tuesday - one in the community and 11 imported.
The sole community case is a sea crew member working onboard bunker tanker MT ALLI and is part of the cluster of 6 infections.
The 42-year-old Indonesian man had not disembarked from the vessel except to go for his COVID-19 vaccination, said MOH.
As of Tuesday, Singapore has reported a total of 61,063 COVID-19 cases and 30 fatalities.
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