3 New COVID-19 Cases in S’pore Today; 1 is a SAF Regular Based in Tengah Air Base

Just two days ago, the number of new COVID-19 cases in Singapore was at 9.

But there were just 5 new cases announced yesterday.

And today, the number has dropped to 3, in which all the new cases are linked to previous cases.

If this trend continues, we can finally sing the victory song.

Here are the details of today’s cases.

3 New COVID-19 Cases in S’pore Today; 1 is a SAF Regular Based in Tengah Air Base

There are 3 new confirmed cases today, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Singapore to 75.

The first patient is a 43-year-old regular in the SAF, and is based in Tengah Air Base. He is linked to the largest local cluster now, the Grace Assembly of God church cluster. The man has his first symptoms on 9 February 2020 and visited a GP the next day. Close contact tracing efforts linked him as a close contact to a confirmed case in the Church, and so he was served a home quarantine order on 13 February and conveyed to NCID on 14 February. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection yesterday afternoon.

Now, before you raise your personal DORSCON level to Red, don’t: if there’s one thing you need to know about life as a soldier, it’s this: safety is of utmost importance. Ask anyone who has served in the army and he or she will agree. And safety obviously means more precautions in the workplace.

According to Mindef, the regular worked in a building and had not been in the workplace since 6 February 2020.  Not sure why, but an encik got to do what an encik does~ #geddit

Mindef has since carried out immediate disinfection of the premises the serviceman visited.

They added, “All servicemen have been reminded to continue with ongoing personal health and hygiene measures.”

This includes hand-washing with soap, twice-daily temperature taking, monitoring of their health, and consultation with a doctor if they feel unwell.

While I can’t speak for anyone, I can say that as an NSman, I know my camp would definitely carry out these SOPs seriously because all commanders are kiasu and kiasu (which is useful in this case).

The second patient is a 29-year-old Singaporean who’s also linked to the Grace Assembly of God church cluster. The man had his first symptoms on 12 February 2020 and went to the Urgent Care Centre in Alexandra Hospital on the same day. He went back to the same place yesterday and was immediately isolated and tested positive in the afternoon.

The third patient is a 71-year-old Singapore who has been under quarantine since 7 February 2020 as she is a family member of a confirmed case that was announced on 8 February 2020. It was only this morning that she was tested positive for the virus.

Updates on Confirmed Cases and Close Contacts

Currently, the results for 119 suspect cases are still pending.

Of the 75 confirmed cases, 19 of them have recovered and have been discharged. 5 of them are in critical condition and warded in the intensive care unit. The conditions of the remaining 51 patients are either stable or improving.

MOH has identified 2,179 contacts, and 2,045 of them are still in Singapore. They’ve managed to contact 1,781 of them, while efforts to contact the remaining 264 close contacts are still ongoing.

For the latest update, do bookmark MOH’s website here or register for Gov.sg’s WhatsApp service here.

In the meantime, stay safe and vigilant, and let’s hope for another piece of good news tomorrow!