SINGAPORE, Nov 26 — The sole Covid-19 community case reported today — the first in over two weeks — is a 32-year-old Singaporean man who works as a service engineer whose job entails going onboard ships docked at the Marina South Pier and West Coast Pier.
In its evening update of the coronavirus situation in Singapore, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said that the man’s diagnosis is a “fresh infection” as his serological test came back negative.
The ministry said that the man typically works alone and has no interaction with the vessel crew except for a supervising crew member when he services and maintains the ships’ navigational systems.
MOH said that on days when he was not working onboard the ships, the man had remained at his office located at the Vertex Building Tower B in Ubi.
The man had reportedly worn a surgical mask during his work onboard the vessels and at his office, and that “safe distancing and safe management measures were adhered to”.
He had developed a fever and sore throat at night on Nov 23 and sought medical treatment at a general practitioner the next day. He was then tested for the coronavirus.
The man was taken in an ambulance to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases the next day when his test came back positive.
MOH said that the man had dinner with 12 family members at the Seoul Garden restaurant in Tampines on Nov 21.
They had occupied three tables and there was mingling between the groups.
Among those present at the dinner was the man’s two-year-old niece, who had earlier been issued a five-day medical certificate (from Nov 20 to Nov 24) for runny nose. The girl has since tested negative for the coronavirus.
“Investigations are ongoing to assess if there had been any breach of the relevant safe management measures,” MOH said.
In the meantime, the ministry said that all of the man’s identified close contacts — including his family members at the dinner — have been isolated and placed on quarantine.
They will be tested at the start and end of their quarantine period.
“We will also conduct serological tests on his household and family contacts to determine if he could have been infected by them,” MOH said.
The ministry added: “We urge everyone to continue to exercise social responsibility, and to cooperate with the prevailing measures. This is yet another reminder that the virus has not been eradicated and that new cases and clusters can easily emerge in our community, if we let our guard down.”
Covid-19 situation in Singapore
The man is among five new Covid-19 cases reported today. The remaining four cases are imported cases — all of whom have no symptoms.
The four imported cases comprise two dependant’s pass holders, one work permit holder and one work pass holder.
The two dependant’s pass holders are girls aged five and eight who had arrived from Pakistan, while the other two cases had travel histories to Malaysia and Nepal.
The four were all placed on stay-home notices or isolated upon their arrival in Singapore.
Overall, the number of new cases in the community has remained low with a total of one new case reported in the past week, MOH said.
Updates on remaining cases
The total number of infections in Singapore now stands at 58,195.
Of these, 58,104 people have fully recovered and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities, including 13 today.
There are still 43 patients in hospitals and most are in stable condition or improving, aside from one who is in intensive care.
Another 20 patients are isolated at community facilities. They have mild symptoms or are clinically well but still tested positive for Covid-19.
Twenty-eight people have died from complications due to the disease. — TODAY
