23 new community COVID-19 cases in Singapore, including 4 unlinked infections

SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 23 new COVID-19 cases in the community as of noon on Saturday (May 29).

Nineteen infections were linked to previous cases, including 13 which had been placed in quarantine. The other six were detected through surveillance testing.

Four infections had no links to earlier cases, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

There were also 10 imported cases, who were placed on stay-home notice upon arrival in Singapore. 

No new infections were reported in migrant workers' dormitories.

In total, 33 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Singapore on Saturday.

NEW CLUSTER

One new cluster has been linked to Case 63806, a 49 year-old permanent resident who works as a manager at Success Consultancy, taking the total number of cases in the cluster to four.

The three new cases in this cluster tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday. They are all Indian nationals and their serology test results are pending.

One of them, a 26-year-old man who is identified as Case 63848, is a workplace contact of the permanent resident. 

The other two men are household contacts of Case 63848. One is a 44-year-old IT engineer at AXA Go Singapore and the other is a 26-year-old engineer at GlobalFoundries.

HONG YE GROUP CLEANERS CLUSTER

Eight new cases have been linked to the Hong Ye Group cleaners cluster, bringing the total number of infections to 17. They are all family members or household contacts of existing cases linked to the cluster.

Of these, seven have already been quarantined. 

Two of the cases linked to the cluster are students at Boon Lay Garden Primary school. They were last in school on May 18. 

One is a 7-year-old, and the other is 9. Both girls were quarantined on May 24, and developed a fever on May 26 but did not report their symptoms. 

They tested positive for COVID-19 on May 28 and their serology test results are pending. 

Two babies were also among the cases - one is a 1-year-old student at Little Explorers Cove @ Boon Lay. He was last in school in April. 

The other is a 8-month old who does not attend any childcare facility. Both were placed under quarantine on May 24. The 8-month-old baby girl developed a fever on May 24, and the 1-year-old baby boy developed a fever on May 27, but their symptoms were not reported. 

Both tested positive for COVID-19 on May 28 and their serology test results are pending. 

One case was detected through surveillance - a 13-year-old Singaporean student from Xinghua Primary School. she was last in school on May 18.

She developed a fever on May 27 and sought treatment at a general practitioner clinic on the same day, where she was tested for COVID-19. She was quarantined on May 28, with her test returning positive on the same day.

The remaining cases are a 58-year-old Singaporean homemaker, another 32-year-old Singaporean homemaker and a 47-year-old Singaporean part-time cleaner at ABBA Maintenance. 

ROSYTH SCHOOL TEACHER AMONG UNLINKED CASES

Of the four unlinked new COVID-19 community cases, one is a 40-year-old Singaporean who works as a teacher at Rosyth School. She was last in school on May 18, and had already received both vaccine doses.

She developed a blocked nose on May 25 and a runny nose the next day, then sought medical treatment at a general practitioner clinic on May 26.

She tested positive in the antigen rapid test on May 27, and was immediately isolated. On the same day, she developed a fever.

On May 28, her polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test returned positive for COVID-19.

The second unlinked case is a 49-year-old Singaporean who works at Eng Soon Chair & Table Hire Service and has been working from home.

She developed a fever and sore throat on May 23, and a cough on May 25, but did not seek medical treatment until May 27 when she visited a general practitioner clinic. She tested positive for COVID-19 the next day. Her serology test is pending. She had received her first dose on COVID-19 vaccine on May 18. 

The remaining two unlinked cases are both Malaysians.

One is a 33-year-old kitchen assistant at Hua Zai Eating House, and the other is a 23-year-old cook at West Grill Station (Anchorvale). Both tested positive for COVID-19 on May 29 and their serology test results are pending. 

CHANGI PRISON COMPLEX CLUSTER

A 48-year-old Singaporean inmate at Changi Prison Complex has been added to the cluster, taking the total number of infections there to 14 cases. He is a close contact of a previous case, a cook at Changi Prison Complex who is employed by SATS Food Services.

The new case was quarantined on May 13 and was tested six times for COVID-19, with all test results returning negative. 

However, he developed a fever on the evening of May 25 and tested positive for the virus three days later.  

CHEVY'S BAR AND BISTRO CLUSTER

A 21-year-old Malaysian, who works in the Indo Bowl kitchen at 39 Sultan Gate, has been linked to the Chevy's Bar and Bistro cluster. 

He is a workplace contact of a previous case, a waiter at Royz Et Vouz, and was last at work on May 22.

He developed symptoms on May 26 and sought treatment at a general practitioner clinic on May 28. He tested positive for COVID-19 on the same day.

JEM/WESTGATE CLUSTER

Two new cases were added to the Jem/Westgate cluster.

A 32-year-old Singaporean who works at the National Library Board has been linked to the cluster. He has been working from home.

He is a family member of three previous cases, and was quarantined on May 17. He was tested three times, with all tests returning negative for the virus.

He developed a fever on May 27 night, and informed MOH of his symptom the next day. He was tested again, with his result returning positive the same day.

The remaining case is a 32-year-old Singaporean who works as a chef at LeVeL33 restaurant at 8 Marina Boulevard. He had visited Westgate on May 20 and developed a fever seven days later.

The man sought medical treatment at a general practitioner clinic on May 27, and he tested positive for COVID-19 the next day. 

MCDONALD’S DELIVERY RIDERS CLUSTER

A 28-year-old Malaysian, who works as a member of the kitchen staff and service crew at Pizza Hut Express at Holland Village MRT, has been linked to the cluster. 

He is a household contact of five previous cases.

He was quarantined and tested for COVID-19 on May 22, with results returning negative. On May 27, he developed symptoms and was tested again. His test results returned positive the next day.

CASE 63319 CLUSTER

Two cases have been linked to Case 63319, a 77-year-old homemaker who tested positive for COVID-19 on May 15. They are family members of the 77-year-old woman.

Both cases were quarantined on May 15, and tested on May 17. Their test results returned negative the same day. 

They were then tested again on May 28, with both results returning positive the next day.

The first is a 39-year-old Singaporean who is a teacher at Pathlight School. She was last at work on May 14 and had already received both vaccine doses.

The other case is a 9-year-old student at Springdale Primary School, who is a household contact of the 77-year-old homemaker. She was last in school on May 14.

REMAINING LINKED CASE

A 27-year-old Malaysian who works at McDonald’s at 293 Yishun Street 22 has been linked to a previous case, another Malaysian who works at McDonald's at The Woodgrove.

He is a household contact of Case 63743 and was quarantined on May 26. He started developing symptoms on May 27 and reported them. He tested positive for COVID-19 on May 29. 

IMPORTED CASES

Ten imported cases were reported on Saturday.

Of these, three are Singaporeans and two are permanent residents who returned from India and the Philippines.

Four cases are work permit holders who arrived from Indonesia and the Philippines, including a foreign domestic worker.

The remaining imported case is a special pass holder who is a sea crew member. He arrived from Indonesia on a vessel and disembarked for a crew change. He was tested for COVID-19 during his stay-home notice.

The imported cases were placed on stay-home notice upon arrival in Singapore and were tested during their stay-home notice period.

3 PATIENTS IN ICU

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has decreased from 199 cases in the week before to 138 cases in the past week. 

The number of unlinked cases in the community has also decreased from 48 cases in the week before to 23 cases in the past week.

Among the 204 cases reported from May 23 to May 29, 42 cases have tested positive for their serology tests, 113 have tested negative, and 49 serology test results are pending.