Covid-19: 12 new cases in Singapore, including 3 RSAF servicemen infected while on duty in France
A man wearing a mask passes a flight information board at Changi Airport, following the Covid-19 outbreak in Singapore. On March 11, 2020, the Ministry of Health said that eight out of the 12 newly confirmed infections in the country were imported cases.
SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health on Wednesday (March 11) confirmed 12 new cases of Covid-19 infections here. Of these, three are servicemen from the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), who had been in France for official duty and are imported cases.
In all, eight of the new cases are imported, making it the largest number of imported cases reported in a day so far.
Other than these eight, one is linked to the Safra Jurong cluster, one linked to an imported case, and two who have no links established yet.
The three RSAF servicemen — Cases 169, 173 and 175 — are linked to Case 165, who was confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus on Tuesday and is also an RSAF serviceman in France for official duty.
All four were in France from Feb 15 to March 7.
Apart from the three RSAF servicemen, the imported cases include an Indonesian woman who is a family member of Case 152, an Indonesian man who developed symptoms in Jakarta; a 37-year old British woman; and two Singaporeans who had been to more than one country in the weeks before their diagnoses.
Another imported case is a 37-year-old Filipino and a Singapore work pass holder who went to the Philippines recently.
He is a family member of another infected patient, a 35-year-old Filipina employed as a staff nurse at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH).
The total number of reported infections in the country is now 178. Of these, 93 people have fully recovered and have been discharged.
Three patients were discharged on Wednesday, MOH said. This brings the total number who have fully recovered to 96.
There are still 82 patients in hospital and among these, nine are in critical condition under intensive care.
THE LATEST CASES
Case 167
Case 167 is a 35-year-old Filipina and Singapore work pass holder, who is warded at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH).
She was in the Philippines from Feb 11 to 17.
She developed symptoms on March 8, and sought treatment at NTFGH on March 9.
She was confirmed to have the Covid-19 infection on March 10 afternoon.
Before she was warded, she was working as a staff nurse at NTFGH and lives on Jurong East Street 21.
Case 168
Case 168 is a 47-year-old Singaporean man who did not travel recently to the affected countries and regions. He is warded at Sengkang General Hospital.
He reported onset symptoms on March 1, and on March 2, 5 and 8, he sought treatment at two different general practitioner (GP) clinics.
On March 8, he was referred to the emergency department of Sengkang General Hospital, and was confirmed to have Covid-19 on March 9.
Before he was warded, he had mostly stayed home on Rivervale Street in Sengkang.
Case 169
Case 169 is a 40-year-old Singaporean man who had been in France from Feb 15 to March 7. He is warded in an isolation room at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.
He is a contact of Cases 165, 173 and 175, and is one of the imported cases who had been in France on official duty.
He reported onset of symptoms on March 9 and went to the emergency department of Khoo Teck Puat Hospital on March 10. Test results confirmed Covid-19 infection on March 10 afternoon.
Before that, he had gone to the Health Promotion Board for an unrelated matter. He is an RSAF serviceman but had not gone to work since returning to Singapore. He lives on Yishun Street 81.
Case 170
Case 170 is an imported case involving a 56-year-old Indonesian woman who had arrived in Singapore on March 9. She is warded in an isolation room at the Singapore General Hospital.
She is a family member of Case 152, a 65-year-old Indonesian man who got ill while in Jakarta before he came to Singapore.
She reported onset of symptoms on March 6 while in Indonesia and went to the Singapore General Hospital on 9 March after arrival in Singapore. She tested positive on March 10 afternoon.
Case 171
Case 171 is an imported case involving a 27-year-old Singaporean man who had been in France from Feb 25 to March 1, and Spain from March 1 to 6.
He was confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus on the morning of March 11, and is warded in an isolation room at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).
Case 172
Case 172 is a 42-year-old Filipina who is a Singapore work pass holder.
She had been in the Philippines from Feb 27 to March 2.
She was confirmed to have Covid-19 on the morning of March 11, and is warded in an isolation room at NCID.
Case 173
Case 173 is a 31-year-old Singaporean man who had been in France from Feb 15 to March 7.
He was confirmed to have Covid-19 on the morning of March 11, and is warded in an isolation room at NCID.
He is an RSAF serviceman and a contact of Cases 165, 169 and 175.
He is one of the imported cases who had been in France on official duty, and had not gone to work since returning to Singapore.
Case 174
Case 174 is a 67-year-old Singaporean woman who has no recent travel history to the affected countries and regions.
She tested positive on the morning of March 11, and is warded in an isolation room at NCID.
She is linked to the Safra Jurong cluster, where 40 people had been infected after attending a dinner event at the Joy Garden Restaurant there on Feb 15.
Case 175
Case 175 is an imported case of a 44-year-old Singaporean man who had been in France from Feb 15 to March 7.
He was confirmed to have Covid-19 on 11 March morning, and is warded in an isolation room at NCID.
He is an RSAF serviceman, and is a contact of Cases 165, 169 and 173. He is one of the imported cases who had been in France on official duty, and had not gone to work since returning to Singapore.
Case 176
Case 176 is an imported case involving a 37-year-old British woman who had been in Japan from Feb 24 to March 4, and the United Kingdom from March 4 to 8.
She tested positive on the morning of March 11, and is warded in an isolation room at NCID.
Case 177
Case 177 is an imported case involving a 26 year-old Singaporean man who had been in the United States from Feb 14 to 24, the UK from Feb 28 to March 1, and France from March 2 to 7.
He tested positive on the morning of March 11, and is warded in an isolation room at NCID.
Case 178
Case 178 is a 37-year-old Filipino and a Singapore work pass holder.
He was in the Philippines from Feb 11 to 19, and again from Feb 23 to March 2 to visit a relative with pneumonia who has since died.
He is an imported case, and is warded at NTFGH and is a family member of Case 167, the staff nurse working at the same hospital.
LINKS BETWEEN PREVIOUS CASES
Further epidemiological investigations and contact tracing have uncovered links between previously announced and new cases. This was made possible with the assistance of the Singapore Police Force.
Eight of the locally transmitted confirmed cases (Cases 31, 33, 38, 83, 90, 91, 138 and 151), as well as Cases 8 and 9, are linked to The Life Church and Missions Singapore. These cases are linked to another 23 confirmed cases (Cases 48, 49, 51, 53, 54, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 63, 66, 67, 68, 70, 71, 73, 74, 78, 80, 81, 84, 88) who are linked to the Grace Assembly of God church cluster.
Five of the confirmed cases (Cases 42, 47, 52, 56 and 69) are linked to the Seletar Aerospace Heights construction site.
Fourteen of the confirmed cases (Cases 93, 95, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 108 and 110) are linked to Wizlearn Technologies in Science Park.
Forty of the confirmed cases (Cases 94, 96, 107, 112, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 120, 121, 122, 125, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 133, 134, 137, 139, 140, 142, 144, 145, 146, 148, 149, 150, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 164, 166 and 174) are linked to a private dinner function at Safra Jurong on Feb 15.
Three of the confirmed cases (Cases 142, 162 and 163) are linked to Boulder+ Gym at Aperia Mall (12 Kallang Ave).
Investigations of these clusters are ongoing, MOH said.
