18 COVID-19 Cases Today (12 Feb); 2 Are Community Cases

We didn’t start the Year of the Ox well.

As of 12pm today (12 Feb), the Ministry of Health (MOH) has preliminarily confirmed 18 new cases of COVID-19 infection.

16 of them are imported cases while 2 are community cases. MOH will provide more details about the cases tonight.

This brings the total number of cases in Singapore to 59,777.

Based on yesterday’s figures, the number of new cases in the community has increased from 3 cases in the week before to 7 cases in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from 2 cases in the week before to 6 cases in the past week.

New Community Cases on 11 Feb Include a Person Working in Chinatown & an NSF

The conclusion of the Year of the Rat wasn’t exactly heartening.

Of the 12 new Covid-19 cases reported yesterday (11 Feb), three were from the community.

The other 9 cases were all imported and tested positive while serving stay-home notices.

One of the community cases reported is a 66-year-old sundry shop owner who works at Chinatown Complex.

The man developed a dry cough on 28 Jan and anosmia, or loss of smell, on Tuesday (9 Feb), but didn’t seek medical attention.

His infection was only detected from community surveillance testing of stallholders and shop owners in Chinatown on the same day.

His test result came back positive the next day, and he was brought to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) in an ambulance.

His infection is likely a recent one, as his serology test came back negative.

Just like his father, the man’s 32-year-old son was unwell but did not see a doctor.

He works part-time as a waiter at Swensen’s in Changi Airport Terminal 3, and was last at work on Monday (8 Feb).

He developed a runny nose on the same day after work.

Similarly, his infection was only detected as he had been identified as a close contact of his father and had to be quarantined.

Only then did he report his symptoms. He was then ferried to NCID and later tested positive for the disease.

The remaining Covid-19 community case is a 20-year-old NSF who works at the SAF premises at Paya Lebar Airbase.

Fortunately, he does not stay in camp and his work does not require him to interact with other units.

He felt unwell on 3 Feb, but thankfully, sought medical treatment at a general practitioner clinic.

However, he wasn’t tested for the coronavirus because he did not exhibit symptoms associated with an acute respiratory infection.

It was only after his medical leave ended and he returned to work that he developed a fever and a runny nose.

He sought treatment at the medical centre in Paya Lebar Airbase and later tested positive for Covid-19.

His serological test came back negative, indicating this is likely a current infection.

172 Active Cases

There are currently 33 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and 1 is in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

139 are isolated and cared for at community facilities. These are those who have mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19.

29 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection.

In the meantime, if you’ve not, you should download the TraceTogether app so that contact tracing can be done easily. If you’re worried about your privacy, watch this video to the end:

Featured Image: Rajaraman Arumugam / Shutterstock.com (Image is for illustration purpose only)