2 of the 4 Unlinked COVID-19 Community Cases on 13 May Tested Preliminarily Positive for the India Variant

Towards the end of last year and the first few months of 2021, the coronavirus must have been practicing safe distancing too.

Few community infections were reported during that time, giving residents here hope that the pandemic was finally coming to an end.

But in the last two months, the coronavirus has gone back to its usual routine of infecting as many people as it can.

Consequently, cases in the community are surging.

19 of 24 Community Cases Reported on 13 May Linked to Changi Airport Cluster

A few days ago, the authorities decided to close down Changi Airport and Jewel. Some saw this as being overly cautious, but in hindsight, it was certainly the right decision.

A whopping 24 community cases were reported yesterday, 19 of whom are linked to the Changi Airport cluster.

They are:

• a 46-year-old male Malaysia national who is employed by SATS as an auxiliary police officer at Changi Airport
•  a 63-year-old male Singaporean who is employed by Certis Cisco as an aviation security officer at Changi Airport Terminal 3
•  a 40-year-old male Singaporean who works as a software engineer at ST Engineering
• a 29-year-old male Singaporean who works as an engineer at ST Engineering
•  a 57-year-old male Singaporean who works as healthcare assistant at Raffles Medical at Changi Airport Terminal 3 Transit
• a 39-year-old male Singaporean who works as a retail executive at a retail store at Changi Airport Terminal 3
• a 77-year-old female Singaporean who is employed by Ramky Cleantech Services Pte Ltd as a cleaner at Changi Airport Terminal 3
• a 49-year-old male Malaysia national who is employed by Ramky Cleantech Services Pte Ltd as a cleaner at Changi Airport Terminal 3
• an 80-year-old female Singaporean who is employed by Ramky Cleantech Services Pte Ltd as a cleaner at Changi Airport Terminal 3
• a 33-year-old male Malaysia national who is employed by Ramky Cleantech Services Pte Ltd as a cleaning supervisor at Changi Airport Terminal 3
•  a 44-year-old male Singaporean who works as a private hire car driver with GoJek
• a 58-year-old female Singaporean who works as an administrative personnel at SBY Frozen Food Supply and is a family member and household contact of previous cases
• a 24-year-old female Singaporean who is a student at an overseas university and had been on home-based learning in Singapore. She is a household contact of a previous case
• a 44-year-old female Singaporean who is a homemaker who visited Changi Airport Terminal 3 on numerous occasions
• a 20-year-old male Singaporean who is a student at Temasek Polytechnic but had been on home-based learning since 7 May. He is a household contact of a previous case
•  a 52-year-old female Singaporean who works as a crew at McDonald’s at 744 Bedok Reservoir Road. She is a household contact of a previous case
• a 44-year-old female Indonesia national who is a foreign domestic worker
•  a 45-year-old female China national who works as a service personnel at SATS Premier Lounge at Changi Airport Terminal 3
• a 53-year-old female Singaporean who works as a cleaner at Abba Maintenance Services Pte Ltd. She is the spouse and household contact of a previous case

The 19 new infections bring the total tally in the Changi Airport cluster to 46, making it Singapore’s largest active cluster.

2 of the 4 Unlinked COVID-19 Community Cases on 13 May Tested Preliminarily Positive for the India Variant

Two of the four unlinked community cases have also tested preliminarily positive for the Indian strain.

One is a 47-year-old female Singaporean who is a homemaker and the other is a 51-year-old female Philippines national who is a foreign domestic worker (FDW).

The homemaker developed a fever, sore throat, and body aches on 7 May night, but did not seek medical treatment until 11 May, when she went to a polyclinic and was tested for COVID-19. Her result came back positive the next day.

The FDW first saw a GP after developing a fever on 8 May, but saw her GP again after her fever persisted and she developed a cough, runny nose, and headache on 12 May.

She was tested for the coronavirus and her result came back positive on 13 May.

The other two unlinked cases are a 43-year-old maid from Myanmar and a 50-year-old Singaporean tutor at Learning Point.

Remaining Community Case Linked to SKH Nurse

The remaining community case is a 7-year-old student at Yio Chu Kang Primary School who tested positive for COVID-19 on 12 May.

He has been linked to an operating theatre nurse at Sengkang General Hospital who tested positive the previous day.

He is a household contact of the nurse. Both are Philippine nationals.

The boy developed a cough and itchy throat on 10 May, and vomited the following day. He then sought treatment at a GP clinic and was tested for the coronavirus.

He was placed on quarantine on the same day after being identified as a close contact of the nurse. His test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 12 May.

10 Imported Cases

The remaining 10 COVID-19 cases are all from abroad.

They include:

• 1 Singaporean and 2 Singapore permanent residents who returned from India
• 1 Dependant’s Pass holder who arrived from Nepal
• 2 Student’s Pass holders who arrived from India
• 2 Work Pass holders who arrived from Nepal and Sri Lanka
• 2 Short-Term Visit Pass holders who came from India and Japan

The only good news is that no new infections were reported in foreign workers’ dormitories.

On Wednesday, the authorities announced that those who visited Changi Airport Terminal 3 from 3 May would get tested for free.

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