35 new community COVID-19 cases in Singapore, new cluster identified at Hougang block

SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 35 new COVID-19 infections in the community as of Thursday (Jun 3), including one with no links to previous cases.

Twenty-two of the cases were linked to MINDSville@Napiri Adult Disability Home in Hougang. They were all quarantined prior to detection, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

Among the remaining 13 new community infections reported on Thursday, 12 were linked to previous cases, said MOH. 

There were also 10 new imported cases on Thursday, all of whom were placed on stay-home notice upon arrival in Singapore. 

Among the imported cases were four Singaporeans and a permanent resident who returned from India. Five imported cases are work permit holders who arrived from Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar, of whom three are foreign domestic workers.

No new cases were reported in migrant workers' dormitories.

In all, Singapore reported 45 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday. This is the highest daily case count since May 16, when Singapore entered Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) following a spike in community cases.

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3 VACCINATED NURSING AIDES TEST POSITIVE

MOH said in its daily update on Wednesday that the 22 cases would be added to Thursday's case count after their test results were verified. There are currently a total of 27 cases linked to the MINDSville@Napiri cluster.

Three of the cases that were reported on Thursday work as nursing aides at the home. They were detected from proactive testing of staff members working in the home. The three cases were fully vaccinated. 

One was asymptomatic while the other two cases developed symptoms after they were tested for COVID-19. 

Nineteen of the other cases linked to MINDSville@Napiri are residents who had already been quarantined. They are all asymptomatic and were also detected from the Health Ministry's testing of residents at the home. Among them, 17 had already been vaccinated. 

All of the residents and employees at the home were tested after a resident was confirmed to have COVID-19 on May 31. 

Co-chair of the COVID-19 multi-ministry task force Lawrence Wong earlier on Thursday said that the authorities were “very concerned” about hidden coronavirus cases in the community. 

He noted the recent outbreak at the MINDSville@Napiri Adult Disability Home was a "stark reminder of this".

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NEW CLUSTER IN BLOCK 506 HOUGANG AVENUE 8

A new cluster comprising 13 cases has been identified at Block 506 Hougang Avenue 8. 

Twelve previously confirmed cases have been linked to this cluster. Whole genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis conducted by the National Public Health Laboratory have revealed links among previous cases to this cluster, said MOH.

The latest case traced to this cluster and reported on Thursday is a 58-year-old Singaporean who is a homemaker. The woman, known as Case 63999, lives at the block and received her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on May 18. 

She developed a fever on May 29, a cough on May 30 and a runny nose on May 31. She sought medical treatment at a polyclinic on Jun 1, where she underwent both an antigen rapid test (ART) and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, and was immediately isolated when her ART result came back positive on the same day. 

Her PCR test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on Jun 2. Her serology test result is negative for the N antigen, which suggests the presence of early infection, said MOH.

READ: Residents of Hougang HDB block to undergo 2nd round of COVID-19 testing after new cluster emerges

GRAB DRIVER, VACCINATED YISHUN RESIDENTS LINKED TO NEW CLUSTERS

Apart from the cluster at Hougang Avenue 8, two other new clusters were identified. 

The new clusters are linked to two previously confirmed COVID-19 cases, a 61-year-old Singaporean who works at the Singapore Pools outlet at the NTUC Fairprice Clementi Avenue 3 branch and an 80-year-old Singaporean who is a retiree.

Three new cases have been linked to the 61-year-old woman.

They are a 23-year-old Singaporean student at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, a 30-year-old Indonesian foreign domestic worker and a 51-year-old Singaporean who works as a private hire driver for Grab. 

All three of them experienced symptoms such as anosmia, runny nose, fever or diarrhoea prior to testing positive for COVID-19. 

Two new cases reported on Thursday are linked to the 80-year-old retiree. They are a 60-year-old Singaporean homemaker and an 85-year-old Singaporean retiree. Both have been fully vaccinated and were detected as part of special testing operations for residents of Yishun Street 72. 

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MCDONALD’S DELIVERY RIDERS CLUSTER

One more case has been linked to the McDonald’s delivery riders cluster, bringing the total number of infections to 21.

Case 64016 is a 30-year-old Malaysian who is employed by IVIC Logistic as a delivery rider at McDonald’s (Tampines Street 32). He received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on May 16.

He underwent an ART and PCR test on May 21 and his test results were negative for COVID-19. As he had been identified as a household contact of a previously confirmed case, he was quarantined on the same day.

He was asymptomatic and was detected when he was tested for COVID-19 infection on Jun 2. He tested positive for COVID-19 on the same day and also tested “preliminarily positive” for the B1617 variant, and is pending further confirmatory tests. His serology test result is also pending.

NTUC FOODFARE ANCHORVALE CLUSTER

Another NTUC Foodfare (308 Anchorvale Road) staff member has been added to the cluster. The cluster now has a total of 11 cases.

The 39-year-old Chinese national works as a kitchen assistant at the food court and is a workplace contact of two previously confirmed cases. She was quarantined on May 31 and developed a fever and sore throat on Jun 2. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 on the same day. 

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MORE STUDENTS LINKED TO EXISTING CLUSTERS

A three-year-old Singaporean student at My First Skool (332B Anchorvale Link) has been linked to cluster involving a 65-year-old Singaporean who is a homemaker.

The boy is a family member and household contact of four previously confirmed COVID-19 cases. He was asymptomatic and he tested positive for COVID-19 on Jun 1, during his quarantine. He was last in school on May 12. This cluster now has seven cases.

A 17-year-old Malaysian who is a student in Malaysia has been linked to the Case 63941 cluster. Case 63941 is a 36-year-old Vietnamese homemaker who was confirmed to have COVID-19 on Jun 1.

The teenager has been in Singapore since September last year to visit her Singaporean family members, said MOH. She developed a fever and cough on May 29 but did not seek medical attention. 

As she had been identified as a household contact of three COVID-19 cases, she was quarantined on Jun 1 and tested for COVID-19 on the same day. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on Jun 2 and her serology test result is pending.

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A 24-year-old Singaporean who works as an insurance agent at Great Eastern Life has been linked to the Case 63714 cluster. Case 63714 is a 74-year-old Singaporean who is a retiree. 

The 24-year-old man, who also works as a part-time GrabFood delivery driver, was quarantined after he was identified as a household contact of a previously confirmed case.

He was tested for COVID-19 on May 26 and May 28, and tested negative both times. He developed a fever on Jun 1 during quarantine and was tested for COVID-19 on Jun 2. His test result came back positive the next day and his serology test result is negative.

FOREIGN DOMESTIC WORKER AMONG LINKED CASES

The remaining linked community case announced on Thursday is a 29-year-old Indonesian who works as a foreign domestic worker. She is a household contact of a previously confirmed case, an 82-year-old Singaporean retiree.

She tested positive for COVID-19 on Jun 2 during quarantine and her serology test is pending. 

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UNLINKED CASE DETECTED DURING ROSTERED ROUTINE TESTING

The sole unlinked community case reported on Thursday is a 41-year-old permanent resident who works as a coating inspector at SBM Keppel Tuas.

He had travelled to India in July 2020, and returned to Singapore on Apr 20, 2021. He served his stay-home notice at a dedicated facility until May 11.

MOH said his on-arrival test taken on Apr 20, as well as his swabs done on May 3 and May 10 during stay-home notice, were all negative for COVID-19.

He was asymptomatic and was detected when he was tested on Jun 1 as part of rostered routine testing. His test result came back positive for COVID-19 on Jun 2 and his serology test result is positive, which is indicative of a past infection, said MOH. 

The man, known as Case 64008, received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on May 24.

“We have classified him as a local unlinked case, as we cannot fully exclude the possibility that he had been infected locally,” said the Health Ministry.