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34 new community COVID-19 cases in Singapore, including 5 students and 2 pre-school teachers

34 new community COVID-19 cases in Singapore, including 5 students and 2 pre-school teachers

People queue to buy takeaway meals, as tables and chairs are cordoned off to prevent people from dining, at a hawker centre in Singapore on May 16, 2021. (Photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)

SINGAPORE: A total of 34 new COVID-19 community cases were reported in Singapore as of noon on Wednesday (May 19), said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

Thirty of the new community infections are linked to previous cases, while four are currently unlinked. Among them, 28 cases had already been placed in quarantine earlier.

Four of the cases were imported and were placed on stay-home notice upon their arrival in Singapore, said the ministry. No new cases were reported in foreign workers' dormitories.

Singapore reported a total of 38 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday.

Among the new community cases are three primary school students from St Anthony's Canossian, St Stephen's and White Sands. They are all linked to the Changi Airport cluster.

There is one case from Yu Ying Secondary School who is linked to a new cluster, while a student from Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan Kindergarten who tested positive for COVID-19 is linked to the Learning Point cluster.

Two pre-school teachers - from Safari House (Lakeside) and My First Skool at Block 235 Bukit Panjang - have also tested positive. 

READ: Student Learning Space system used for home-based learning 'back on track' after slowdown: MOE

ALEXANDRA HOSPITAL EMPLOYEE AMONG UNLINKED CASES

A 24-year-old Singaporean woman who works as a basic care assistant at Alexandra Hospital is among the four unlinked community cases reported on Wednesday.

The woman - identified as Case 63443 - provides basic nursing care in a ward at the hospital, and had adhered to personal protective equipment guidelines when performing her duties such as wearing a N95 mask, the hospital said on Facebook on Thursday.

She returned to work on May 17 following a 10-day local leave and underwent proactive surveillance testing on the same morning.

"She was asymptomatic then but developed symptoms later in the day. She is now being cared for in an isolation room at AH and currently well," the hospital said.

It added that "all the necessary precautionary measures" have been taken, including disinfecting all areas that Case 63443 was in. Contact tracing and swabbing of close contacts are also ongoing.

"As such, visitors will not be allowed into the affected ward until further notice. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused."

There is also a 45-year-old Singaporean who works as a delivery man at Fairfield Book Publishers, a 28-year-old Singaporean man who works as an engineer at Patec, as well as a fully vaccinated 45-year-old Singaporean safe distancing ambassador who was deployed at Westgate shopping mall.

All of them experienced symptoms prior to testing positive for COVID-19. 

READ: Which masks have good filtration efficiency? What you need to know about the updated mask guidelines

READ: Guarding against pandemic fatigue in Singapore's COVID-19 fight

CHANGI AIRPORT CLUSTER GROWS

Seven more cases have been linked to the cluster at Changi Airport Terminal 3. 

Three are primary school students: A 12-year-old Singaporean girl from White Sands Primary School, an 11-year-old Singaporean boy from St Stephen's School and a 12-year-old Singaporean girl from St Anthony's Canossian Primary School. All of them are family members and household contacts of previously confirmed cases. 

The other new cases linked to the Changi Airport cluster are a 31-year-old Filipino woman who works part-time as a serving staff member at Nana's Green Tea at DUO Galleria, a 33-year-old Chinese national who is an inspection officer at AFPD, a 46-year-old Singaporean man who works as a swimming coach and a fully vaccinated 62-year-old Singaporean man who works at as an attendant at Changi Airport Terminal 3.

These cases are also all family members or household contacts of previously confirmed infections. 

There are now 95 cases linked to the Changi Airport cluster. It is the largest active cluster in Singapore. The first detected case, an 88-year-old Singaporean cleaner, was confirmed to have COVID-19 on May 5.

LEARNING POINT CLUSTER 

The Learning Point tuition centre cluster has grown by another three cases. 

There is a six-year-old permanent resident who studies at Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan Kindergarten. The boy is a family member and household contact of a previously confirmed case, an eight-year-old permanent resident who is a student at Yu Neng Primary School and attended classes at Learning Point.

A 39-year-old permanent resident who is self-employed and a 69-year-old fully vaccinated Singaporean retiree were also linked to the cluster, which now has 27 cases in total.

READ: Masks with better filtration capability recommended as new COVID-19 variants spread

READ: Singapore Polytechnic students and staff to be tested for COVID-19 after 3 positive cases

CHANGI PRISON COMPLEX CLUSTER

The three new cases linked to Changi Prison had already been quarantined earlier. 

They are all Singaporean inmates, aged 28, 46 and 56 years. All of them were close contacts of a previously confirmed case known as Case 63160, a 39-year-old Chinese national who is employed by SATS Food Services as a cook at Changi Prison Complex.

There are now seven cases linked to this cluster.

CASES LINKED TO OTHER CLUSTERS

One more case, who had already been quarantined, has been linked to the Marina Bay Sands Casino dealer cluster. Case 63439 is a 32-year-old Malaysian woman who also works as a dealer at the casino. She is a close contact of two previously confirmed cases. 

A 39-year-old Filipino foreign domestic worker is linked to a previously confirmed case, a 53-year-old male Singaporean who works as a personal chauffeur. The Filipino woman is also a household contact of another foreign domestic worker, who also previously tested positive for COVID-19. This cluster now has four cases. 

Among the linked cases is a 39-year-old permanent resident who is a pre-school teacher at Safari House (Lakeside) has been linked to a Case 63290, 64-year-old permanent resident who is currently unemployed.

READ: Internal Security Department officers who worked in same office as COVID-19 case to undergo swab tests

FIVE NEW CLUSTERS

Five new clusters were identified on Wednesday. The first is linked to Jin Tai Tong Food Industries. Two more cases - a warehouse assistant at Jin Tai Tong Chinese medical centre and a warehouse assistant at Jin Tai Tong Food Industries - are workplace contacts of a previously confirmed case, a 55-year-old Singaporean who works as a warehouse assistant at Jin Tai Mart. 

A cluster linked to Sms Infocomm (Singapore) now has a total of three infections. A 29-year-old Malaysian woman who works there was linked to the cluster on Wednesday. She is a close contact of a previously confirmed case, who also works at the company. 

The third new cluster is linked to a 29-year-old Singaporean who works as a digital web designer. A 65-year-old Singaporean man who works at SP Trading and a 64-year-old Singaporean homemaker have been linked to him. 

The fourth new cluster comprises three more cases linked to a 77-year-old Singaporean who is a homemaker. The new cases are a 15-year-old Singaporean who studies at Yu Ying Secondary School, a 44-year-old Filipino foreign domestic worker and a 48-year-old Singaporean who works as a logistics officer at Ceva Logistics. 

Ceva Logistics on Thursday said the 48-year-old is based at a "customer-owned site in Woodlands".

In response to CNA's queries, the company said the employee was last at the Woodlands site on May 14 and has been home since May 15. It added that four other employees have been identified as contacts and were placed on stay-home notice.

The Woodlands site was cleaned on Wednesday and "approved by relevant authorities before operations resumed", said Ceva Logistics.

The remaining cluster is linked to a 22-year-old Singaporean woman who works at Invade and previously tested positive. The newly linked case is a 48-year-old Singaporean man who works as a personal chauffeur.

READ: Singapore to extend interval of COVID-19 vaccine doses to between 6 and 8 weeks

READ: Children aged 12 to 15 to receive Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in Singapore

OTHER LINKED CASES

The other linked cases reported on Thursday include a pre-school teacher at My First Skool at Block 235 Bukit Panjang, a 39-year-old Singaporean pastor at Hearts Alive Church, a 32-year-old Singaporean software engineer at M-DAQ, and 53-year-old Singaporean homemaker.

The remaining case that is linked to a previous infection is a 34-year-old Malaysian woman who works as a flight stewardess at Jetstar Asia Airways.

A Jetstar Asia spokesperson said in response to CNA's queries that the stewardess is a family member and household contact of an earlier community case.

The stewardess operated her last flight on May 15.

Her potential close contacts have been identified and temporarily stood down, the spokesperson said.

"With the raft of safety measures we have introduced, in line with government regulations and best-practice medical advice, we are confident that the risk of inflight transmission remains extremely low," the spokesperson added.

IMPORTED CASES

A Singaporean and two permanent residents who returned from India, Indonesia and the United States are among the four imported cases.

The remaining imported case is a short-term visit pass holder who arrived from Japan. 

The 51-year-old man, who is in Singapore for a work project, experienced the onset of symptoms on May 17 and was confirmed to have COVID-19 on the same day.

INCREASE IN COMMUNITY CASES

MOH said the number of new cases in the community has increased from 49 cases in the week before to 187 cases in the past week. 

The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from nine cases in the week before to 49 cases in the past week. 

Among the 270 confirmed cases reported from May 13 to May 19, a total of 77 cases have tested positive for their serology tests while 163 have tested negative. A further 30 serology test results are pending.

Forty-nine more cases have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities, bringing Singapore's total recoveries to 61,183.

There are 221 cases still in hospital. Most of them are stable or improving, and five are in critical condition in the intensive care unit. Another 254 are being isolated and cared for at community facilities.

As of Wednesday, Singapore has reported a total of 61,689 COVID-19 cases and 31 fatalities from the disease.

More details on specific cases can be found in the Health Ministry’s daily report



SINGAPORE SHIFTS VACCINATION STRATEGY

The COVID-19 multi-ministry task force announced several updates to Singapore's vaccination roll-out at a press conference on Tuesday.

The interval between the first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be extended to between six and eight weeks, up from the current three to four weeks.

READ: MFA expresses 'concerns' to India High Commissioner over Delhi chief minister's comment on 'Singapore' COVID-19 variant

"Instead of having a good number of people getting maximum protection, we make sure we get the maximum number of people get good protection," said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung.

The task force also announced that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has been authorised by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) to be used for children between 12 and 15 years old.

Those aged between 40 to 44 years will also be invited to register for their vaccinations from Wednesday, Mr Ong said.

This story has been updated to include information from Ceva Logistics. 

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Source: CNA/kg/zl

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