Meal Gathering of 8 People Could Have Created a COVID-19 Cluster Whereby All 8 Were Infected

Nowadays, if you’re eating with a friend and they take some of your food or plop some of it on your plate, you’d look at them as if they just slaughtered a litter of puppies in front of you.

The SAFRA Jurong debacle last year showed us that sharing food and eating in large groups can easily lead to a COVID-19 cluster if one diner has the virus.

And that appears to be what happened recently.

Meal Gathering of 8 People Could Have Created a COVID-19 Cluster Whereby All 8 Were Infected

Yesterday, Singaporeans across the country simultaneously collapsed to the floor when they learned that the authorities found 16 new community infections. 

Seven of them are family members of the ICA officer working at Changi Airport Terminal 1 whose infection was reported on Wednesday (28 Apr).

After doing some digging, the authorities found out that the officer and his family had gathered for a meal last Sunday (25 Apr), and suspect that’s when the transmission occurred.

The seven family members, who are all Singaporean, had already been placed under quarantine when their infection was detected.

They are:

• A 32-year-old nurse who works at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH). She is the wife of the ICA officer, but does not work in wards affected by the TTSH cluster and investigations show no link between the two clusters yet
• A 39-year-old male who works as a private hire driver and a security officer at ION Orchard. He developed a cough on 28 April.
• A three-year-old boy, who is the nephew of the ICA officer. He was last at school on 22 April and developed a fever on 28 April.
• A 38-year-old technical officer at SP PowerGrid. He developed a cough and body aches on 28 April.
• A 33-year-old housewife who’s asymptomatic.
• A 72-year-old retiree who is the father of the ICA officer and lives in the same household. He was asymptomatic.
• A 65-year-old man who works as a telephone operator at Goodwood Park Hotel. He was asymptomatic.

The ICA officer developed a cough on 23 Apr and sought medical treatment the next day at a clinic where he was given two days of medical leave.

Three days later, the man developed a fever, anosmia (the loss of the sense of smell), and body aches.

He sought treatment at TTSH the next day and tested positive for COVID-19.

All his previous tests from rostered routine testing, the last of which was on 23 Apr, came back negative.

Fortunately, the man had not gone to work after developing these symptoms.

Despite this, around 100 ICA officers working at Changi Airport will be tested as a precautionary measure. 32 of them have been placed under quarantine.

The other nine community cases reported yesterday includes 8 linked to the TTSH cluster and a fully vaccinated 39-year-old Vietnamese woman who is currently unlinked.

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