News

Tuition Centre COVID-19 Cluster Grows to 18 Cases; 2 New Clusters Formed from 16 May’s Report

2021-05-17 , 10:09 am

If we thought that there was no real need for the tightening of COVID-19 restrictions, we were certainly proved wrong yesterday.

Of the 49 new cases reported yesterday, 38 were from the community. Here are the details:

Tuition Centre COVID-19 Cluster Grows to 18 Cases

Nine more infections were linked to the Learning Point tuition centre cluster, taking the total number in the cluster to 18.

The new cases include four primary school pupils:

a 9-year-old male Singaporean who is a student at Kong Hwa School
an 8-year-old male Singaporean who is a student at Kong Hwa School
an 8-year-old male Singapore Permanent Resident who is a student at Yu Neng Primary School
an 8-year-old female Singaporean who is a student at St Margaret’s Primary School

The St Margaret’s Primary School pupil developed a runny nose on 12 May after attending classes with a previously reported case.

She was placed on quarantine on 13 May and tested the next day. She was confirmed to be COVID-19 positive on 15 May and developed a cough on the same day. Her serology test is pending.

The girl had not gone to school after her onset of symptoms.

The remaining five new cases in the cluster are:

a 42-year-old male Singaporean who works at the Land Transport Authority and is a family member and household contact of a previous case
a 41-year-old female Singaporean who works at Arcadis Pte Ltd and is a family member and household contact of a previous case
a 37-year-old male Singaporean who works at Schenker Global Management and is a family member and household contact of a previous case
a 55-year-old male Singaporean who works as a social worker at Care Corner Family Service Centre and is a family member and household contact of a previous case
a 41-year-old female Singaporean who works at Celestica Electronics Pte Ltd and is a family member and household contact of a previous case

Changi Airport Terminal 3 Cluster

Our largest active cluster at Changi Airport Terminal 3 continues to grow, as six more infections were linked to it.

The cases that were detected through surveillance are:

a 37-year-old male Philippines national who works as a sales representative at JR Life Sciences and had visited Changi Airport Terminal 3 on 4 May
a 39-year-old male Philippines national who works as a nurse at Ren Ci Nursing Home (Ang Mo Kio) and is a household contact of a previous case
a 36-year-old male Singapore Permanent Resident who works as a stall assistant at Kopitiam located at Changi Airport Terminal 3
a 66-year-old female Singaporean who is employed by Certis Cisco as an aviation security officer at Changi Airport Terminal 3
a 26-year-old male Malaysia national who works as a sales associate at a retail store at Changi Airport Terminal 3

The only case that was already quarantined prior to detection was a 1-year-old male Singaporean. He was placed on quarantine after being identified as a family member and household contact of a previous case.

He developed a fever and runny nose on 15 May and his test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on the same day. His serology test result is pending.

There are now 74 cases in the Changi Airport Terminal 3 cluster.

Changi Prison Cluster

To rub salt into an already gangrenous wound, two new COVID-19 clusters have formed.

One is the Changi Prison Complex Cluster, which had two more infections added to it yesterday.

22-year-old male Vietnam national who is currently unemployed and is a household contact of a previous case
a 35-year-old male China national who works as a cargo driver at SATS Food Pte Ltd who is a household contact of a previous case

The 35-year-old was placed on quarantine on 13 May after being identified as a close contact of a confirmed COVID-19 case.

He was tested on the same day and his result came back positive on 15 May. He was asymptomatic and his serology test is pending.

The man completed his vaccine regimen on 25 Feb, having received his first dose on 4 Feb.

There are now 4 cases in this cluster.

White Sands Cluster

There was also one more case in the Wok Hey (White Sands) cluster:

a 26-year-old female Singaporean who works as a customer service officer at Wareesan Management Pte Ltd

The woman is a family member and household contact of two previous cases. She developed a sore throat on 10 May but did not seek medical treatment.

As she had been identified as a close contact of a previous case, she was placed on quarantine on 13 May but still did not report her symptom.

Her infection was only detected when she was tested on 14 May while on quarantine and her result came back positive the next day.

On the same day, she developed a fever and sore throat.

Her serology test result is pending.

Since some visitors to the mall and the Giant outlet at Block 440 Pasir Ris Drive 4 have tested positive recently, staff and tenants working at these places since 2 May will be included in a special swabbing arrangement initiated by the Ministry of Health.

11 Imported Cases

There were also 11 imported cases who had been placed on stay-home notice or isolated upon arrival in Singapore:

5 Singapore Permanent Residents who returned from India
5 Work Permit holders who arrived from Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, of whom 4 are foreign domestic workers
One special pass holder who is a sea crew member. He arrived from the UAE on a vessel and was tested onboard without disembarking

207 Cases in Hospital

There are currently 207 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most of whom are stable or improving. Two are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

243 other cases with mild symptoms and lower risk factors are isolated and cared for at community facilities.

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

You can wear your mask to prevent a cluster from forming. Watch this video to the end and you’ll understand:

Featured Image: Facebook (Learning Point)