4 community cases – including 2 fully-vaccinated – among 25 new COVID infections in Singapore

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Friday (7 May) confirmed 25 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore, taking the country's total case count to 61,311.

Four are local cases in the community, of whom only one is linked to a previous case. Among the 21 imported cases, 15 are Singapore residents – Singaporeans or permanent residents. Friday marks the 12th consecutive day with local cases reported.

"Amongst the new cases today, 20 are asymptomatic, and were detected from our proactive screening and surveillance, while five were symptomatic," said the MOH.

One of the community cases is a 58-year-old Singaporean man who is currently unemployed and the latest infection to be linked to Singapore's newest and 10th active COVID-19 cluster.

The man is a family member and household contact of two cases: a 59-year-old Singaporean man who works as a trailer truck driver at Brani Terminal and Pasir Panjang Terminal and a 22-year-old male PR who is a full-time national serviceman with the Singapore Armed Forces.

With the addition of the 58-year-old man, the cluster – identified as the "Case 61822" cluster – is now linked to six cases, of whom four work at Pasir Panjang Terminal.

As the man had been identified as a close contact of the trailer truck driver, he was placed on quarantine on 4 May. The next day, he developed chills at night, and reported his symptoms. He then developed a fever on 6 May, and was tested for COVID-19.

His test result came back positive on the same day, and he was conveyed in an ambulance to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. His serology test result is negative, said the MOH.

3 unlinked community cases; 2 fully-vaccinated

• Senior executive at IGWT

One of the three unlinked community cases is a 48-year-old PR who works as a senior executive at IGWT at 8 Shenton Way but he has largely been working from home. His work entails boarding shipping vessels periodically, and he last boarded one on 1 March.

He had been in Russia from 30 October last year to 30 January and served his stay-home notice at a dedicated facility until 13 February.

His test taken on 12 February was negative for COVID-19, said the MOH. The man is asymptomatic and was detected when he was tested on 5 May as part of testing protocol for shore-based personnel boarding vessels.

His test result came back positive the next day, and he was conveyed in an ambulance to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital. His serology test result is pending, added the ministry.

"His Ct value was very high, which is indicative of a low viral load and he could be shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA from a past infection which are no longer transmissible and infective to others. However given that we are not able to definitively conclude when he had been infected, we will take all the necessary public health actions as a precautionary measure," it said.

• Fully-vaccinated retiree

The 72-year-old Singaporean man was conveyed to Raffles Hospital on 5 May for a heart condition and was tested for COVID-19 the next day even though he is asymptomatic. The man's test result came back positive on 7 May.

He had received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on 22 February and the second dose on 15 March.

"His Ct value was very high and his serology test result has come back positive. He could be shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA from a past infection which are no longer transmissible and infective to others but given that we are not able to definitively conclude when he had been infected, we will take all the necessary public health actions as a precautionary measure," said the MOH.

The ministry added that he routinely visits Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) Eye Centre for an eye condition, and his last visit was on 23 April.

"He had not been at any of the affected wards. Our investigations so far have found no evidence that he is linked to the Case 62541 (TTSH nurse) cluster. Epidemiological investigations are ongoing," said the MOH.

• Fully-vaccinated cleaner at Stay-Home Notice (SHN) facility

She is a 53-year-old Singaporean woman who works as a cleaner at Park Avenue Rochester at 31 Rochester Drive, which has been designated a stay-home notice facility.

The woman received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on 24 January and the second dose on 16 February.

Her work does not entail interacting with the guests on the SHN at the hotel.

She developed a runny nose and sore throat at the end of her workday on 5 May, and fever the next day.

She sought medical treatment at a general practitioner clinic and was tested for COVID-19. Her test result came back positive on 7 May, and she was conveyed to Singapore General Hospital in an ambulance. Her earlier tests under the rostered routine testing regime – the last being on 29 March – were all negative for COVID-19. Her serological test result is pending, said the MOH.

The ministry noted that the number of new cases in the community has increased from 35 in the week before to 43 in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from six in the week before to nine in the past week.

It added four more locations to the list of public places visited by infectious COVID-19 cases, including FairPrice Xtra at AMK Hub and three F&B places. They were visited from 23 April to 4 May. A visit to Yummy Food Link at 111 Woodlands Street 13, an existing place on the list, on the morning of 3 May was also added.

In a separate press statement on Friday, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said about 1,500 students, staff, and external vendors at Edgefield Secondary School had taken a mandatory COVID-19 swab test last weekend.

"All who had taken the swab tests have tested negative for COVID-19. Those who are on quarantine order have also tested negative for their swab test," added the ministry.

The school, which had shifted to full home-based learning from 4 to 7 May following the discovery of a COVID-19 case among its students, will resume physical lessons next Monday.

Singapore now has 10 active COVID-19 clusters, the largest being the TTSH cluster which to date has 40 infections linked to it.

21 imported cases, including 15 S'pore residents returning from India

Among the 21 imported cases, four are Singaporeans and 11 are PRs who returned from India.

Two cases are work pass holders who arrived from Germany and the Maldives.

Three others are work permit holders who arrived from Bangladesh, Myanmar, and the Philippines, of whom one is a foreign domestic worker.

The remaining case is a short-term visit pass holder who arrived from India for her upcoming marriage to her Singaporean fiancé.

All 21 imported cases were placed on the stay-home notice upon their arrival here and were tested while serving their notice. "The arrivals from the Indian sub-continent had already come into Singapore before the restrictions on travel were imposed," said the MOH.

With effect from 11.59pm on 23 April, all long-term pass holders and short-term visitors with recent travel history to India are not allowed entry into or transit through Singapore, due to a surge in COVID-19 cases there.

The same border control measure has been extended to travellers with recent travel history to Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka with effect from 11.59pm on 1 May.

99% of total cases have recovered, 2 in ICU

With 33 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Friday, 60,906 cases – or 99.3 per cent of the total – have fully recovered from the infection.

Most of the 138 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, while two are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

A total of 236 patients – with mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive – are isolated and cared for at community facilities.

Apart from the 31 patients who have died from COVID-19 complications, 15 others who tested positive for the virus were determined to have died from unrelated causes, including three whose deaths were attributed to a heart attack and another four, whose deaths were attributed to coronary heart disease.

Amongst the 166 confirmed cases reported from 1 to 7 May, 52 cases have tested positive for their serology tests, 82 have tested negative, and 32 serology test results are pending.

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