Sole COVID-19 Community Case Reported on 27 Apr Hasn’t Exactly Been in the Community

Typically, when a COVID-19 community case is reported, we assume that they’ve been all over Singapore: in shopping malls, eateries, bubble tea stores, and Singapore Pools’ outlets.

But a recent community case didn’t go gallivanting around the country. In fact, he’s hardly been in the community at all.

Sole COVID-19 Community Case Reported on 27 Apr is Sea Crew Member

The sole COVID-19 community infection reported yesterday (27 Apr) is a 42-year-old Indonesian man who works on board a bunker tanker, MT ALLI, as a sea crew member.

The man is linked to the cluster which formed on board the vessel, beginning with the infection of a 39-year-old Indonesian—Case 62113.

The cluster now has six infections.

The 42-year-old was placed on quarantine on 18 April at a dedicated facility after being identified as a close contact of his infected shipmate.

He was tested on 19 April and the test came back negative for COVID-19.

But he then developed a cough and fever on 25 April and reported his symptoms. He was then taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) the next day.

This time, his test result came back positive. His serology test was negative, however, indicating a fresh infection.

Even though the man was classed as a community case, he had not disembarked from the vessel except to go for his COVID-19 vaccination.

He received his first dose of the vaccine on 8 April, but since it takes a few weeks to build up immunity after completing one’s vaccination regimen, the man was still susceptible to infection.

11 Imported Cases

The remaining 11 cases reported yesterday were all from abroad. All had been placed on stay-home notice upon arrival in Singapore.

No infections were detected in migrant workers’ dormitories.

Of the 11 imported cases, there were four Singaporeans and three permanent residents who returned from India, Ivory Coast, and Kazakhstan.

Two were dependent’s pass holders who arrived from Nepal.

Four are work permit holders who arrived from India, Indonesia, and Malaysia, one of whom is a foreign domestic worker.

The last case is a student’s pass holder who arrived from Malaysia.

99.4% Recovery Rate

Singapore continues to maintain its high recovery rate of around 99.4%, as 60,704 out of the 61,063 COVID-19 cases here have recovered.

22 more cases were discharged recently from hospitals or community isolation facilities.

108 COVID-19 patients are still in hospital, most of whom are stable or improving; there are no patients in the intensive care unit.

Another 221 cases who have mild symptoms and lower risk factors are isolated and cared for at community facilities.

Community Cases Still Rising

Worryingly, the number of community cases is still rising.

The number of new community infections has increased from nine in the week before to 11 in the past week.

Meanwhile, the number of unlinked cases in the community has remained at four cases per week in the past two weeks.

Even with our vaccination drive underway, clearly can’t afford to let our guard down.

Feature Image: anek.soowannaphoom / Shutterstock.com