Unlinked Community Cases Reported on 11 June Includes a Promoter in Ion Orchard

Yesterday (11 June), it was announced that Singapore and Hong Kong will review its air travel bubble.

For the bubble to go ahead, unlinked infections must be kept low. So of course, this is when the coronavirus decided to wake up and get back in action.

Yesterday, 9 new infections were reported, 3 of whom are from the community. All three are currently unlinked.

Here are the details:

Unlinked Community Cases Include a Promoter in Ion Orchard

The number of unlinked cases jumped by one from the previous day, as none of the three reported community cases had established links to previous cases.

They are:

• a 57-year-old Singaporean woman who works as a promoter at Guardian (ION Orchard)
• a 50-year-old Singaporean woman who is employed by Campaign Complete Solutions Pte Ltd as a janitor at Raffles City Tower and One Raffles Quay
• a 38-year-old male Indonesia national who is employed by Marina Offshore Pte Ltd as a sea crew on board tugboat MARINA ARIEL

The Guardian promoter developed a dry throat on 7 June, but did not seek medical attention. She subsequently developed an earache on 10 June and sought treatment at a polyclinic, where she underwent both an ART and PCR test.

To know more about ART and PCR tests in Singapore, watch this video to the end:

Both tests returned positive results. Her serology test result is negative.

The 50-year-old janitor is asymptomatic and was only detected through surveillance testing for mall cleaners, when she was tested on 10 June.

Her infection came back positive on the same day.

“Her serology test result is negative for the N antigen, which suggests the presence of early infection”, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its press release.

She completed her vaccination regimen on 29 May, having received the first dose on 1 May.

The sea crew member developed a fever on 7 June but did not seek medical attention until she developed a loss of smell and taste on 9 June and a headache and chills on 10 June.

He reported his symptoms that day and was conveyed to a hospital and tested for COVID-19.  His test result came back positive the next day. His serology test result is pending.

Prior his hospital visit, he had not disembarked from the vessel.

6 Imported Cases

The 6 other cases reported yesterday were all from abroad. They are:

• 3 Singaporeans and 2 Singapore Permanent Residents who returned from India and the US
• 1 Special Pass holder who is a sea crew member. He arrived from Indonesia on a vessel and was tested onboard without disembarking

All 6 cases had already been placed on stay-home notice or isolated upon arrival in Singapore.

Closure of ION Orchard from 12 June

Bad news for shoppers: ION Orchard will be closed for 4 days from today (12 June) until 16 June.

MOH said it’s investigating 3 cases of COVID-19 infection amongst individuals who work in ION Orchard.

The closure will break any potential chain of transmission and enable deep cleaning of the premises, it said.

The ministry will be conducting special testing operations for staff who have been working in ION Orchard shopping mall from 28 May.

They are also offering free COVID-19 testing for members of the public who had visited ION Orchard between 3 June to 11 June.

“Individuals who had only walked through the mall to connect to neighbouring buildings or Orchard MRT station need not be tested,” it said.

The ministry encouraged all visitors to ION Orchard between the specified dates to monitor their health closely and minimise social interactions as far as possible for 14 days from their date of visit.

As always, if unwell, they should see a doctor immediately.

133 Cases in Hospitals

At the moment, 133 confirmed COVID-19 cases are still in hospitals, most of whom are stable or improving. One is in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

Another 279 with mild symptoms or lower risk factors are isolated and cared for at community facilities.

34 more cases have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities recently.

Featured Image: Facebook (ION Orchard)