Everything About the Tekka Centre Screening That Found 2 Past COVID-19 Infections

Testing capabilities is one of Singapore’s three conditions needed to be fulfilled before we can step into Phase 3.

Previously, the Singapore government decided to extend voluntary community testing to yet another group in Singapore: the stallholders and key delivery personnel at wholesale centres.

One such exercise took place for people working at Tekka Centre where the team discovered two underground Covid-19 cases.

2 Stallholders Tested Positive For Covid-19

On 26 Nov 2020, 876 stallholders in and around Tekka Centre turned up for the surveillance testing exercise.

874 of them tested negative while two tested positive for Covid-19.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) announced that the two cases are likely to be past infection cases after serological tests were administered.

Both patients are also asymptomatic cases.

Just A Quick Flashback:

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test merely checks for the presence of the Covid-19 virus, no matter whether it’s “alive or dead”.

As long as there are fragments of the coronavirus within the body, the test comes out positive.

The serological test, however, checks for the presence of antibodies within the body. Typically, antibodies (immunity) will form after the patient has suffered and recovered from the coronavirus.

So if a patient tests positive for the PCR test and the serological test, chances are, he or she has already been infected and recovered from Covid-19.

You can watch this video to the end to understand what the tests are (and please subscribe to our YouTube channel for more informative videos!):

Patient 1: Stallholder Selling Mutton At Tekka Centre

The first case that was discovered from the Tekka Centre surveillance testing is a 60-year-old stallholder who sells mutton at Tekka Centre.

When her test results returned positive, the woman, who is asymptomatic, was sent to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).

She works with a co-worker at the stall in Tekka Centre and stays in Yishun with her husband who works at Mustafa Centre.

She also regularly visits her children who are staying at Bishan St 13 and Tampines St 86.

Epidemiological investigations are ongoing.

Patient 2: A Warehouse Assistant

The second patient is a 41-year-old Indian national who works as a warehouse assistant who tested positive on Friday, 27 Nov 2020.

His job requires him to do stocktakes at warehouses located at Cuff Road. He also delivers goods to Jothi Store and Flower Shop in 1 Campbell Lane.

It was emphasised that he doesn’t interact with customers during his work.

The warehouse assistants who work with him, as well as two foreign nationals who live with him, tested negative for Covid-19.

Community Cases Remain Low

MOH assures that overall, the number of community cases in Singapore remains low with 3 unlinked Covid-19 cases over the past week.

Meanwhile, imported cases are now making up a bulk of the new daily cases.

On 29 Nov 2020, 7 new imported Covid-19 cases were reported:

• A long-term pass holder from Russia
• A student pass holder from India
• Three work permit holders from Indonesia
• A 39-year-old Ivory Coast national from Malta in Singapore for a work project
• A 58-year-old male Belarus national here to participate in a Mixed Martial Art (MMA) sporting event as a cornerman

All seven were placed on Stay-Home-Notice (SHN)/isolated upon arrival in Singapore and tested positive during their quarantine.

Meanwhile, there are zero cases from the dormitories, the 19th day in a row this has happened.

New Place Added To List Of Places Visited By Infectious Covid-19 Patients

MOH has a list which names places visited by Covid-19 patients for more than 30 minutes.

The latest addition to the list is the NTUC Fairprice outlet located at 301 Yishun Ave 2, which was visited on 21 Nov at 8.50pm to 9.55pm.

Here’s the full list of places currently on the list:

For those who were there around the same time period, monitor your health for the next 14 days.

See a doctor immediately if you exhibit any symptoms of acute respiratory infection (cough, runny nose, etc) and inform him about your exposure history.

Tip

Not interested in going to a bookmarked website every day to browse through a list?

You can also check if you’re at risk by going to the TraceTogether App, SingPass Mobile or the SafeEntry Location Matching Self-Check website where they’ll check if you were at the specific locations based on your SafeEntry records.

Singapore’s Covid-19 Situation

With 29 Nov’s addition, Singapore’s total number of cases now stands at 58,213.

58,109 patients have fully recovered from the disease and are fully discharged from the hospitals or community care facilities (CCF).

There are 31 Covid-19 patients still being cared for at the hospitals with none in the intensive care unit (ICU), and 29 at CCFs.

Singapore has 29 deaths due to Covid-19 complications and 15 others who has Covid-19 but died due to other causes.

Featured Image: huntergol hp / Shutterstock.com