22 new Covid-19 cases, all imported including 2 linked to NewOcean 6 bunker
Ships lie at anchor in front of a refinery on Singapore's Bukom Island. Two more people have been found to be infected with the coronavirus, adding to the cluster from bunker tanker NewOcean 6.
SINGAPORE — Two more people have been found to be infected with the coronavirus, adding to the cluster from bunker tanker NewOcean 6.
They were part of 22 imported cases of Covid-19 reported on Monday (Jan 11) by the Ministry of Health (MOH).
There were no cases in the wider community.
The two crew members from NewOcean 6 had been identified as close contacts of a previous case and were placed on quarantine on Dec 31.
“They were tested during quarantine and confirmed to have Covid-19 infection on Jan 10,” MOH said.
Of the 22 imported cases, 21 have no symptoms.
All the imported cases had already been placed on stay-home notice or isolated upon arrival in Singapore. They are:
Two Singaporeans and two permanent residents who all returned from India
Three dependant’s pass holders who arrived from India and the United Arab Emirates
One student’s pass holder who came from Indonesia
10 work permit holders from Bangladesh, India and Indonesia, of whom two are foreign domestic workers
One long-term visit pass holder from India
Three short-term visit pass holders, with two having arrived from India and the United States to visit their family members here. The third came from India to visit her son who is studying in Singapore
MOH added that one of the work permit holders has been classified as an “imported” case because he is “likely to be shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA, which are no longer transmissible and infective to others”.
The 37-year-old Bangladeshi man had arrived in Singapore on Dec 14 and served his stay-home notice at a dedicated facility until Dec 28.
His swab test done on Dec 24 was negative for the virus, as was another swab test taken as part of the Rostered Routine Testing of workers on Jan 6.
However, another test taken on Jan 8 came back positive.
“His polymerase chain reaction test yielded a very high Ct value, which is indicative of a low viral load. His serological test result has also come back positive. Given that these indicate a likely past infection, we have classified this case as imported,” the ministry said.
Overall, the number of new cases in the community has gone down from nine cases in the week before to eight in the past week.
The number of cases with no known links in the community has, however, gone up from three in the week before to five in the past week.
MOH added Sri Aachi Aappakadai restaurant at 45 Chander Road in Little India to a list of public places that had been visited by a person or persons during their infectious period.
The date and time of visit were on Jan 3 between 10.50am and 12.30pm.
UPDATES ON REMAINING CASES
The total number of infections in Singapore is now 58,929.
Of these, 58,668 people have fully recovered and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities, including 32 on Monday.
There are still 67 patients in hospitals and most are in stable condition or improving, except for one who is in intensive care.
Another 165 patients are isolated at community facilities. They have mild symptoms or are clinically well but still tested positive for Covid-19.
Twenty-nine people have died from complications due to the disease.
