Unlinked Cases Reported on 20 May Include Yet Another SP Student; School Expanding Testing Exercise

Hoping for the number of community cases to magically go down during this outbreak is like making vacation plans after a travel bubble is announced: it’s most likely going to end in disappointment. 

The tighter measures which took effect last Sunday will take some time to have an impact on the COVID-19 outbreak in the community.

Until then, we can expect dozens of cases a day.

Yesterday (20 May), 27 new coronavirus infections were reported. Here are the details:

6 Unlinked Cases Include Yet Another SP Student; School Expanding Testing Exercise

According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), 6 of the community cases reported yesterday had no established links. They are:

• a 59-year-old female Singaporean who works at Mary Fashion and Trading (338 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1)
• a 49-year-old female Singapore Permanent Resident who is a homemaker
•  a 41-year-old male Singaporean who works as a customer service personnel at Times Bookstore but had not gone to work since 30 April
• a 54-year-old female Malaysia national who works at Seagate Singapore International Headquarters Pte Ltd
•  a 19-year-old female Malaysia national who is a student at Singapore Polytechnic (SP) and had last gone to school on 15 May
•  a 69-year-old male Singaporean who works as a cleaner employed by Weishen Industrial Services Pte Ltd

The SP student developed a fever on 19 May, and sought medical treatment at a GP clinic on the same day.

She underwent an antigen rapid test (ART) and PCR test, both of which came back positive.

Her serology test result is pending.

After three positive cases at the polytechnic were reported, the school began testing its 6,500 students and staff members on 19 May.

Last night, it said it would expand testing to include all staff members and students from the School of Chemical & Life Sciences.

Changi Airport Terminal 3 Cluster

Just like our love for exercise during a circuit breaker, the Changi Airport Terminal cluster continues to grow.

4 more cases were linked to the cluster yesterday:

•  a 63-year-old male Singaporean who is employed by Certis Cisco as an aviation security officer at Changi Airport Terminal 3
•  a 43-year-old female Singaporean who works as an administrative personnel at Glory Ship Management Pte Ltd and had last gone to work on 7 May
•  a 14-year-old female Singaporean who is a student at Madrasah Al-Ma’arif Al-Islamiah and had last gone to school on 7 May
• an 8-year-old female Singaporean who is a student at Madrasah Al-Ma’arif Al-Islamiah and had last gone to school on 4 May

The two students are family members and were close contacts of a previous case. Both were placed on quarantine on 16 May and confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 19 May.

The 8-year-old was asymptomatic, while the 14-year-old developed a cough on 18 May.

Serology tests for both are pending.

Learning Point Cluster

Another cluster that has consistently grown over the last few days is the one at the Learning Point Tuition Centre.

Yesterday, a 38-year-old female Singaporean was added to a long list of infections linked to the cluster.

She works as a legal service officer at Legal Service Commission and is a family member and household contact of a previous case.

She was placed on quarantine on 17 May and developed a runny nose and body aches the next day. She was tested after reporting her symptoms and her result came back positive on 19 May.

Her serology test came back negative for the N antigen, indicating an early infection.

The woman completed her vaccination regimen on 10 May, having received her first dose on 19 April.

Changi Prison Complex Cluster 

Yet another inmate at the Changi Prison Complex has tested positive for the coronavirus in one of the more recent clusters.

He is a 41-year-old male Singaporean who is a close contact of a previous case and was placed on quarantine on 13 May.

When he was tested that day, his result came back negative. However, he developed a runny nose, sore throat, headache, and body aches more than a week later on 19 May, and this time, he tested positive for COVID-19.

His serology test result is negative.

Jin Tai Tong Food Industries Cluster

Three more cases have been linked to the cluster at Jin Tai Tong Food Industries which emerged recently.

They are:

• a 32-year-old male China national who works as a warehouse assistant at Jin Tai Tong Warehouse
• a 53-year-old female Singaporean who is a packing assistant at Jin Tai Mart
• a 40-year-old male China national who works as a store assistant at Jin Tai Mart

The 32-year-old is a workplace contact of a previous case and was placed on quarantine on 15 May.

He developed a fever two days later and was tested for COVID-19 on 18 May. He was confirmed to be COVID-19 positive on 19 May.

His serology test is pending.

Sms Infocomm Cluster

A 49-year-old female Singaporean is the latest addition to the COVID-19 cluster at Sms Infocomm.

She works as a factory operator at the company and is a close contact of a previous case.

She developed a sore throat on 16 May and sought medical treatment at a GP clinic on 17 May, where she was tested for COVID-19.

On the same day, she was placed on quarantine.

Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 19 May.

Her serology test result is pending.

Case 63357 Cluster

Six more cases have been linked to Case 63357 – a 32-year-old Singaporean who works as an IT engineer at AbbVie Operations Singapore. He was confirmed to be COVID-19 positive on 16 May.

The six new cases are:

• a 60-year-old female Singaporean who is employed by Jonguil Asia Cleaning Pte Ltd and deployed as a cleaner at The Cascadia
• a 59-year-old male Singaporean who is employed by White Guard Security Pte Ltd as a security officer
•  a 33-year-old male Singaporean who works as a technician at PSA Singapore (Tanjong Pagar Terminal)
•  a 32-year-old female Singaporean who works as a clinic assistant at Etern Medical Clinic (Punggol MRT)
•  a 3-year-old female Singaporean who is a student at Skool4kidz Centre at Punggol Way
•  a 36-year-old female Singapore Permanent Resident who works as service staff at KFC at Jalan Mas Puteh

The KFC employee is a family member of a previous case and developed a fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, and headache on 17 May. She sought treatment at a GP clinic the next day.

She underwent both an ART and PCR test. Both came back positive.

Her serology test result is pending.

Other Cases With Known Links

There were also three cases not linked to any cluster, but had other links to previous cases. They are:

• a 39-year-old male Malaysia national who works as an electrician at Yew Hock Automation Service & Control Pte Ltd
• a 12-year-old male Singaporean who is a student at Anglo-Chinese School (Junior)
• a 32-year-old female Philippines national who is a foreign domestic worker

14 Imported Cases

14 of the 41 COVID-19 cases reported yesterday were from abroad. All had been placed on stay-home notice upon arrival in Singapore.

They are:

• 7 Singaporeans and 3 Singapore Permanent Residents who returned from India and Indonesia
• 2 Dependant’s Pass holders who arrived from Germany and Sri Lanka
• 2 Work Pass holders who arrived from Nepal and the Philippines

240 Confirmed Cases in Hospital

At the moment, there are 240 confirmed cases still in the hospital, most of whom are stable or improving. 4 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

Another 229 with lower risk factors and mild symptoms are isolated and cared for at community facilities.

70YO Dies From COVID-19 Complications

Sadly, a 70-year-old male Singaporean – Case 62687 – passed away yesterday due to complications from the virus.

He had been warded in Tan Tock Seng Hospitals’ Ward 9D on 22 April, and was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 30 April.

He had not been vaccinated against COVID-19, and had a history of lung cancer and atrial fibrillation.

“The National Centre for Infectious Diseases has reached out to his family and is extending assistance to them,” MOH said.

Featured Image: Facebook (Singapore Polytechnic)