Sole COVID-19 Case Reported on 5 May Formed a New Cluster

Yesterday afternoon, many residents reported hearing the loud “woosh” of an unusually strong gust of wind blow past their homes.

The odd thing is when they looked out, the skies were clear, and there was no sign of an impending thunderstorm.

We later discovered that this was caused by the entire nation breathing a sigh of relief all at once after they found out that only one COVID-19 community case was reported.

After a couple of days of more than a dozen community cases, this was a much-needed break from all that panic.

But now it turns out that that sole community case may have formed a new cluster.

Sole COVID-19 Case Reported Linked to Three Cases at Pasir Panjang Terminal

The sole community case, a 59-year-old trailer truck driver, has been linked to three earlier cases at Pasir Panjang Terminal, forming a new cluster.

The Singaporean man, employed by GKE Express Logistics, works at Brani Terminal and Pasir Panjang Terminal, according to the Ministry of Health (MOH).

He was last at work on 1 May.

The man developed a fever and sore throat on Sunday (2 May) and stayed at home. He sought treatment the next day at a general practitioner clinic, where he was tested for COVID-19.

His result came back positive the next day, and he was taken to Alexandra Hospital in an ambulance.

His serology test is pending.

The first case that was detected in the cluster was a 23-year-old Indian national who works as a lashing specialist at the Pasir Panjang Terminal. He tested positive for COVID-19 on 10 Apr – nearly a month ago.

The other two cases reside in dormitories and work as stevedores at Pasir Panjang Terminal. One of them, like the newly discovered case, works as Brani Terminal as well.

To detect more possible infections, MOH will test port workers employed by PSA Singapore who has been deployed at the terminal.

The 15 other cases reported yesterday were all from abroad and were placed on stay-home notice upon arrival in Singapore.

Number of Community Cases Surging

Unsurprisingly, the number of community infections has spiked from 13 in the week before to 62 in the past week.

The number of unlinked cases has also gone up from six to seven over the same period.

21 COVID-19 patients were discharged yesterday, bringing the number of people who have fully recovered from the disease to 60,829.

131 patients remain in the hospital, including two in critical condition in the intensive care unit. They are not linked to the TTSH cluster.

Another 262 patients with mild symptoms and lower risk factors are recuperating in community facilities.

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