SINGAPORE, January 22 — Three more cases of Covid-19 have been linked to a cluster at an industrial firm in Kallang, the Ministry of Health said yesterday.
They were among the four new cases of Covid-19 in the community for the day, with another 34 cases that are imported.
In its update of the coronavirus situation here, MOH said that the latest person infected in the cluster is the wife of a 39-year-old permanent resident who works as a sales personnel at BS Industrial and Construction Supply.
The 43-year-old Singaporean woman works from home as an online trader and does not physically interact with her clients.
She had been placed on quarantine on January 18 following her husband’s diagnosis.
On January 20, she was tested even though she had no symptoms and the result confirmed an infection.
She was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).
The woman’s serology test result has come back negative, MOH said, indicating that hers is likely a current infection.
Second case
The second case linked to the cluster is a 46-year-old Malaysian woman who works as a sales personnel at financial and printing services firm Toppan Merrill along Church Street in the Central Business District.
The work pass holder is a household contact of a Malaysian woman who works at BS Industrial and Construction Supply.
The Toppan Merrill employee had a blocked nose on January 19 and stayed at home for most of the day.
She was placed on quarantine on January 20 and reported her symptoms to the authorities that same day before being taken to Sengkang General Hospital.
Her test result came back positive on Wednesday.
Third case
Another employee at BS Industrial and Construction Supply who tested positive for the virus is a 35-year-old permanent resident who works as a sales personnel there.He had a sore throat on January 18 but did not see a doctor.
He was contacted by the authorities that same day since he was identified as a close contact of the earlier case but he did not report his symptoms.
Swabbed on January 20 while under quarantine, he was found to be infected with the coronavirus and taken to the National University Hospital, where his serology test is pending.
Case with no known links yet
The fourth new case in the community is a 42-year-old Singaporean man who works as a diving crew member at Ocean Works Asia, which provides underwater services to the offshore oil and gas industry.
MOH said that the man had travelled to Indonesia for work between November 4 and December 13 and had served his stay-home notice at a dedicated facility here until December 27.
His swab test done during quarantine on December 24 was negative.
The man had no symptoms but was detected when he took a Covid-19 test on January 20 as part of the requirement for shore-based personnel going onboard a vessel to be tested.
“His result came back positive for Covid-19 infection on the same day and he was taken to NCID. His serological test result has come back positive, which indicates a likely past infection,” the ministry said.
This case had been classified as locally transmitted given the relatively long time interval between his travel and positive test, MOH said.
Investigations into the four cases are ongoing.
Overall, the number of new cases in the community has jumped from three in the week before to 21 in the past week.
The number of cases with no known links in the community has also gone up from one in the week before to six in the past week.
Imported cases
There were 34 imported cases reported yesterday and 33 of them had already been placed on stay-home notice or isolated upon arrival in Singapore, MOH said.
They are:
One permanent resident who returned from the United States
One dependent’s pass holder who arrived from the United Arab Emirates
One long-term visit pass holder who came from the US
Two work pass holders who arrived from India and the UAE
26 work permit holders who arrived from Bangladesh, India and Indonesia — one of whom is a foreign domestic worker
One short-term visit pass holder who came from India to visit her child who is a permanent resident here
Two special pass holders who are seafarers. One of them had arrived from Indonesia to board a vessel docked here while the second one had arrived onboard a vessel but had not disembarked
MOH said that the permanent resident who arrived from the US on January 17 for work purposes was tested for Covid-19 upon arrival.
The man’s test came back negative on the same day and he was on a controlled itinerary for the next few days.
“On January 20, he took a Covid-19 pre-departure test in preparation for a trip to the United Kingdom. His result came back positive on the same day and he was taken to the hospital.”
Updates on remaining cases
The total number of infections in Singapore is now 59,235.
Of these, 58,959 people have fully recovered and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities, including 33 yesterday.
There are still 43 patients in hospitals and most are in stable condition or improving. One person is in intensive care.
Another 204 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. — TODAY
