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Singapore

27 new community COVID-19 cases in Singapore; 4 more clusters identified

27 new community COVID-19 cases in Singapore; 4 more clusters identified

People wearing face masks at Bedok Town Square on Sep 4, 2020. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)

SINGAPORE: A total of 27 COVID-19 community cases were reported as of noon on Tuesday (May 18), the Ministry of Health (MOH) said. 

Sixteen were linked to previous cases and 11 were unlinked. Fourteen of the 27 new cases had been placed in quarantine earlier, said MOH. 

There were also 11 imported cases that were placed on stay-home notice upon arrival in Singapore. No new cases were reported in foreign workers' dormitories.

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

3 CASES TEST "PRELIMINARILY POSITIVE" FOR B1617 VARIANT

Three community cases have tested preliminarily positive for the B1617 variant. One of them, a 57-year-old Singaporean woman who works at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), is currently unlinked. She received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on May 8.

The other two cases are household contacts of previously confirmed cases. They are a 36-year-old Malaysian woman who works at Toast and Curry Sentosa and a 59-year-old Singaporean man who works as a financial planner at Great Eastern. He is a family member of the woman who works at MHA, and also received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on May 8.

READ: All in-person private tuition and enrichment for students aged 18 and below to be suspended: MOE 

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

UNLINKED CASES INCLUDE FOOD DELIVERY RIDER

The other unlinked cases reported on Tuesday include a 46-year-old Singaporean woman who is an investment banker at DBS at Marina Bay Financial Tower, a 95-year-old Singaporean retiree and a 39-year-old Singaporean woman who works at Corner Stone Global Partners.

There is also a 35-year-old Malaysian man who is a kitchen crew member at Kota Zheng Zong Bak Kut Teh (Serangoon Gardens), a 31-year-old Singaporean man who works at Courts (Funan) and a 51-year-old Singaporean clinic assistant at Dorothy’s Baby & Child Clinic. The clinic assistant received her first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine on Apr 15, and a second dose on May 14.

The remaining unlinked cases are a 43-year-old Chinese national who works at Jin Tai Tong Food Industries, a 26-year-old Malaysian man who works as a logistics officer at DCSS Technology, a 38-year-old Singaporean woman who works as an analyst at HSBC, and a 40-year-old Singaporean man who works as a vending machine loader at Warburg as well as a food delivery rider for Deliveroo and Grab.

READ: Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine authorised for children aged 12 to 15 years in Singapore

CHANGI AIRPORT TERMINAL 3 CLUSTER

Including the Malaysian national who works at Toast and Curry Sentosa who tested preliminarily positive for the B1617 variant, a total of three cases have been added to the cluster at Changi Airport. 

The other two cases are a 26-year-old Singaporean woman who is an IT engineer at Accenture and a 27-year-old Malaysian man who is employed by Ramky Cleantech Services as a cleaner at Robinson 77. 

The IT engineer is a family member and household contact of a previous case, while the cleaner is a close contact of another cleaner who tested positive on May 13.

The cluster at Changi Airport now has a total of 87 cases. 

LEARNING POINT CLUSTER GROWS

Four new more cases are linked to the Learning Point tuition centre cluster, bringing the total number of infections to 24. 

Two are students. The first is a seven-year-old Singaporean from Catholic High School who attended classes at Learning Point in Parkway Centre. The other is a seven-year-old Singaporean student at CHIJ (Katong) Primary School who also attends student care at Seedlings World Student Care @ Frankel. She is a close contact of two previous cases, including one that attends Seedlings World Student Care @ Frankel.

The remaining cases are family members and household contacts of previously confirmed infections. They are a 37-year-old permanent resident and a 43-year-old Singaporean woman works as an executive at Zespri Hub.

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

FOUR NEW CLUSTERS IDENTIFIED

Two cases have been linked to a previously confirmed case - a 64-year-old permanent resident who is currently unemployed - forming a new cluster. They are a seven-year-old Malaysian who is a student at Yuhua Primary School and a 36-year-old Malaysian who is a cook at Spring Court Restaurant. 

The second new cluster is linked to a 35-year-old Portuguese woman who had earlier been confirmed as a COVID-19 case. The woman works as a sales officer at Sanofi-Aventis. The two cases linked to her are a 40-year-old Filipino foreign domestic worker and a two-year-old Singaporean who is a student at My First Skool (Westgate).

READ: Effects of tightened COVID-19 measures will only be seen in 1 or 2 weeks due to 'time lag': Lawrence Wong

Another cluster was identified in connection with a previous case, a 32-year-old Singaporean who works as an IT engineer at AbbVie Operations Singapore. The new case linked to this cluster - a 57-year-old Singaporean retiree - had already been quarantined. 

The fourth new cluster is also connected to a previously confirmed case, a 53-year-old Singaporean man who works as a personal chauffeur. An 18-year-old Singaporean who is a student at ITE College Central has been linked to him. 

OTHER LINKED CASES

The remaining linked cases are household contacts or close contacts of previously confirmed infections. 

They include a 21-year-old permanent resident who works at The Goodburger Food Truck, a 39-year-old Singaporean who works as a bank officer at Mizuho Bank, as well as the Great Eastern employee who tested preliminarily positive for the B1617 variant. 

3 SINGAPOREANS AMONG IMPORTED CASES

Among the 11 imported cases are three Singaporeans and three permanent residents who returned from France, India, Myanmar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United Kingdom.

A long-term visit pass holder who arrived from the UAE and a work pass holder who arrived from the Philippines are also among the imported cases.

The remaining imported cases are three work permit holders who arrived from Indonesia and the Philippines, of whom two are foreign domestic workers. 

READ: Tuition centres prepared to move back online, 'not surprised' at announcement amid spike in COVID-19 cases

5 PATIENTS IN ICU

MOH said the overall number of new cases in the community has increased from 40 cases in the week before to 163 cases in the past week. 

The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from 10 cases in the week before to 48 cases in the past week. 

Among the 248 confirmed cases reported from May 12 to May 18, 75 cases have tested positive for their serology tests while 143 have tested negative. A further 30 serology test results are pending.

Further information about specific cases can be found in MOH’s report

Eleven more cases have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities, bringing Singapore's total recoveries to 61,134.

There are 220 cases still in hospital. Most of them are stable or improving, and five are in critical condition in the intensive care unit. This is the highest number of patients in the ICU in more than 11 months.

Another 266 cases are being isolated and cared for at community facilities.

READ: Visitors to Jem or Westgate shopping malls from May 10 to May 14 urged to take free COVID-19 test: MOH




As of Tuesday, Singapore has reported a total of 61,651 COVID-19 cases and 31 fatalities from the disease.

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Source: CNA/jt/zl

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