33 COVID-19 Cases Today (2 Jan); Highest Figure in 3 Months

2021 hasn’t started well; other than the cold weather that doesn’t seem to end anytime soon, we saw 3 community cases on the first day, and on the second day, we broke a 3-month record.

Today, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has preliminarily confirmed 33 new cases of COVID-19 infection. This is the highest number of COVID-19 cases reported since 15 September 2020, when 34 COVID-19 cases were reported.

All of them are imported cases. Amongst them, 6 are Singapore Permanent Residents, and 9 are foreign domestic workers.

This brings the total number of cases in Singapore to 58,662.

Based on yesterday’s figures, the number of new cases in the community has increased from 1 case in the week before to 10 cases in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from 1 case in the week before to 4 cases in the past week.

A COVID-19 Case Had Reportedly Refused to Take COVID-19 Test Despite Being Advised to Do So

Three Covid-19 cases in the community were reported yesterday.

One of those infected is a 52-year-old Singaporean woman who works as a client analyst at Deutsche Bank (One Raffles Quay).

Fortunately, her job doesn’t require her to interact with clients or external parties.

She is linked to case 58,817, a Singaporean who works as a harbour pilot, as well as two cases reported on Thursday, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said.

She developed symptoms on Monday (28 Dec) and visited a general practitioner clinic for treatment.

The doctor there advised her to take a Covid-19 test, but she chose not to do so. 

So, the doctor gave her five days’ medical leave, during which she had to stay at home.

She was later identified as a close contact of previous community cases, and when contacted by MOH, she informed the ministry of her ill state.

She was placed on quarantine on Thursday, and subsequently taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases in an ambulance.

There, her Covid-19 test returned a positive result, but her serological test result was negative, indicating a current infection.

MOH said those who are advised by doctors to take a Covid-19 test should do so.

This will allow for early identification of cases and enable the authorities to further contain the spread of the virus.

In general, it’s a good idea to follow the medical advice of doctors, and especially so when it comes to a deadly virus.

One Unlinked Community Case

It’s not been a great start to the new year, as one of the three community cases is currently unlinked.

He is a 53-year-old Japanese man who is employed by Kurosawa and Partners, but is currently working from home.

He first arrived in Singapore from Japan on 26 Nov, and was placed on Stay-Home Notice (SHN) at a dedicated facility until 10 Dec.

The pre-departure test he had taken before arriving in Singapore had been negative, as well as the test during his SHN on 6 Dec.

But before returning to Japan, the man had to take another pre-departure test, and this time, it came back positive.

His serological test result has also come back positive, and he is currently asymptomatic.

2nd RGS Student Tests Positive

The remaining community case is a Raffles Girls’ School (RGS) student, who is the second RGS student to test positive for the virus in recent days.

The first was among the five community cases reported on 31 Dec, 2020.

The second RGS student is 14-year-old  Singaporean who was a friend of the first detected case.

She visited her friend’s home on 27 Dec, where the girl’s father, a marine surveyor was also present.

All three would later test positive for the coronavirus.

The teenager was identified as a close contact on Tuesday (29 Dec) and placed on quarantine.

She developed a fever the next day and was conveyed to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital in an ambulance, and tested positive for Covid-19 the next day.

Her serological test has come back negative, indicating a current infection.

Fortunately, she hasn’t been in school since October

Mandarin Orchard Reopened

In a statement on Friday, MOH said that based on its investigations of Mandarin Orchard Singapore, it has “determined that there was no further transmission” beyond the 13 cases first reported.

As a result, the hotel has been allowed to reopen.

This includes resuming operations in its restaurant and event spaces.

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