19 new community COVID-19 cases in Singapore, and 1 new death

SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 25 COVID-19 cases on Sunday (May 30), including 19 infections in the community, and one new death.

A 95-year-old Singaporean woman, identified as Case 63382, died from complications due to COVID-19 infection on Sunday, said the Ministry of Health (MOH). 

She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on May 17 when she was warded at Changi General Hospital for an unrelated medical condition. 

She had not been vaccinated against COVID-19, and had a history of cancer, hypertension and hypothyroidism. 

This is the third COVID-19 death reported in May. As of Sunday, Singapore's COVID-19 death toll stands at 33, with the total number of cases at 62,028.

READ: 95-year-old woman is Singapore's 33rd COVID-19 fatality

NEW CLUSTER LINKED TO NTUC FOODFARE AT ANCHORVALE ROAD

A new COVID-19 cluster linked to a NTUC Foodfare coffee shop at 308 Anchorvale Road has been identified. 

Five of the new community cases reported on Sunday were linked to the cluster, including four kitchen assistants who work at Hua Zai HK Style Roasted Delight Rice Noodle in the Anchorvale coffee shop as well as Hua Zai HK Style Roasted Delights in Hougang Green Shopping Mall.

There are now a total of seven cases in this cluster, the first of which - a 33-year-old kitchen assistant at Hua Zai Eating House - tested positive on Saturday. 

MOH said it will shut the NTUC Foodfare outlet at 308 Anchorvale Road for 14 days from Sunday and offer free testing for those who visited from May 13 to May 30.

The outlet is currently scheduled to reopen on Jun 13.

"Our epidemiological investigations have found that there is likely ongoing transmission at the coffee shop," said MOH.

Those who visited NTUC Foodfare between May 13 and May 30 are advised to monitor their health closely for 14 days from their date of visit. They are encouraged to visit a regional screening centre or Swab and Send Home Public Health Preparedness Clinic for a free COVID-19 test. 

As of Sunday, NTUC Foodfare was listed four times on MOH's list of locations visited by COVID-19 cases during their infectious period. Fu Fa Food Court at Hougang Green Shopping Mall was listed six times.

LINKED CASES

Two new cases have been linked to the Case 63446 cluster, a 28-year-old Singaporean man who works as an engineer at Patec.

Both are family members and household contacts. Case 63867, who is seven months old, was placed on quarantine on May 18. She developed a fever on May 28, and was tested for COVID-19 on May 29. Her test result came back positive the same day. 

Case 63866 is a 29-year-old Singaporean woman who works in an administrative role at Sephora. She was also placed on quarantine on May 18 and tested positive on May 29 after developing a fever. 

Three more cases have been linked to the Case 63757 cluster - a 67-year-old Singaporean retiree who tested positive on May 26.

All are family members and household contacts, including a cleaner at the DHL Supply Chain Advanced Regional Centre at Greenwich Drive, a man who works in an administrative role at the Central Provident Fund Board and a woman who works as a retail assistant at Lamy in Bugis Junction and Chinatown Point. 

One more case - a 25-year-old Indonesian domestic helper - was linked to the cluster at Chevy’s Bar and Bistro.

Meanwhile, another case - a 41-year-old Filipina who works as a waitress at Erwin's Gastrobar at Marina Boulevard - was also linked to Jem/Westgate cluster. 

The McDonald’s delivery riders cluster also saw one more case, a 38-year-old Singaporean man who works at Pizza Hut at Punggol Plaza. He was identified as a close contact of four colleagues who tested positive on May 23 and May 24. 

One new infection - a permanent resident who works as a consultant at ICSC - has also been linked to the Case 63806 cluster. The consultant  was placed on quarantine on May 28 after being identified as a close contact of two previous cases, Cases 63806 and 6384813, who both work at Success Consultancy.

UNLINKED CASES 

Five of the community cases reported on Sunday were not linked to previous infections, said MOH.  

These include a 65-year-old Singaporean homemaker, a 35-year-old Singaporean man who works at Nur Insan, and a 22-year-old Singaporean man who is a warehouse assistant at Keppel Logistics. 

The other two cases are a 37-year-old Indian national who works as a delivery driver with CCG Logistics and a 59-year-old Indian national who is a retiree.

The retiree arrived from India on Jan 25 to visit his Singaporean child, and served stay-home notice at a dedicated facility until Feb 8. His pre-departure test taken in India on Jan 23, as well as on-arrival test in Singapore on Jan 25, were negative for COVID-19 infection, said MOH.

Another test taken during his stay-home notice on Feb 7 was also negative. He is asymptomatic, and was detected when he took a COVID-19 pre-departure test on May 27 in preparation for his return trip to India. His test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on May 28. 

"His serology test result is positive, which is indicative of a past infection. However we have classified this case as locally transmitted and taken all necessary public health actions as we are unable to rule out that he had been infected in Singapore," said MOH. 

There were also six imported cases, who had been placed on stay-home notice or isolated upon arrival in Singapore. Five were returning Singaporeans or permanent residents who travelled from Belgium, India, Indonesia and the US.

The remaining imported case is a work permit holder who arrived from Philippines and is a foreign domestic worker. They had all already been placed on stay-home notice upon arrival in Singapore and were tested while serving stay-home notice, said MOH.

3 IN INTENSIVE CARE

Eleven more people have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 61,434 have fully recovered from the infection. 

There are currently 222 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and three are in critical condition in the intensive care unit. Another 339 are isolated and cared for at community facilities. 

No new infections were reported in migrant workers' dormitories.