3 Staff Members from Mandarin Orchard S’pore Found to Have Past COVID-19 Infections

By
Shawn Ambrose
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When the authorities discovered that 13 guests may have been infected while serving their stay-home notice (SHN) at the Mandarin Orchard Singapore, they were alarmed to say the least.

After all, the whole point of SHNs is to prevent the coronavirus from potentially spreading further.

But because the infections of all 13 guests – who arrived from 10 different countries – were found to have a high genetic similarity, it’s possible that they may have been infected during their stay.

Experts previously speculated that if the guests hadn’t encountered each other, hotel staff or fomites (objects likely to carry infection) may have transmitted the virus.

Well, now we may have an answer.

3 Staff Members from Mandarin Orchard S’pore Found to Past COVID-19 Infections

After conducting a probe into the 13 confirmed infections, the authorities ensured that all the hotel’s guests were checked out, and that staff members were tested.

According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), 571 staff members of Mandarin Orchard Singapore have been tested so far.

Of these, 158 test results have been processed, while 413 results are pending. All 158 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test results have come back negative for the coronavirus.

However, the serological tests of 3 staff members have come back positive, meaning they likely had past infections.

“Epidemiological investigations of these cases are in progress’, MOH said.

3 SHN Guests at Mandarin Orchard Test Positive As Well

In addition, the ministry has also administered Covid-19 tests for 394 guests serving SHN at the Mandarin Orchard.

Of the 384 test results that are ready, three have tested positive. They were immediately taken to hospital via ambulance.

“As they have recent travel history, it is likely that these are imported”, MOH said.

“Nevertheless the National Public Health Laboratory will conduct whole genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis to determine if they could be linked to the 13 cases”.

13 Infections All Served SHN in Same Tower 

The 13 initial infections at the Mandarin Orchard had all served their SHN in the same tower of the hotel between 22 Oct and 11 Nov, according to The Straits Times.

They later tested positive for Covid-19 between 2 and 11 Nov.

It’s probable that they all contracted the virus from the same source for two main reasons:

  • if they all obeyed their SHN orders, none of them would have interacted with each other
  • genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of the virus showed that they were all infected by coronavirus strains that have “high genetic similarity”

Given that the 13 guests came from different countries – Bahrain, Canada, Indonesia, Myanmar, Netherlands, Philippines, South Korea, UAE, UK and US – it’s highly likely that they contracted the virus at the hotel.

And the past infections of the three staff members support this theory.

This is why the Ministry of Health is advising all guests who stayed at the hotel since 11 Nov to monitor their health closely for 14 days from their last date of stay.

If they develop any Covid-19 symptoms, such as a cough, sore throat, runny nose, fever, and loss of taste or smell, they should see a doctor.

However, experts said this tiny group is unlikely to spark a fresh wave of infections, as more than a month has passed since they were confirmed to have Covid-19.

Nevertheless, the authorities will certainly be digging deeper to get to the bottom of this matter.

Featured Image: sirastock / Shutterstock.com

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Shawn Ambrose
Email: [email protected]