Selamat Hari Raya to all of our Muslim friends. As we enjoy this well-deserved public holiday, we must not forget that COVID-19 is “having fun” around Singapore as well.
As of 12pm today (13 May), the Ministry of Health (MOH) has preliminarily confirmed 32 new cases of COVID-19 infection.
24 are community cases, and 17 of them are linked to the Changi Airport clusters.
This brings the total number of cases in Singapore to 61,451.
Based on yesterday’s figures, the number of new cases in the community has decreased from 62 cases in the week before to 49 cases in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has increased from 7 cases in the week before to 12 cases in the past week.
Sole Unlinked Community Case Reported on 12 May is a Nurse from Sengkang General Hospital
Of the 10 community infections reported yesterday, the sole unlinked case is a 33-year-old Philippine national who works as an operating theatre nurse at Sengkang General Hospital (SKH).
The man developed a runny nose on 9 May and cough on 10 May. He then ran a fever and experienced a sore throat, shortness of breath, and loss of taste the next day.
He was tested on 10 May as part of SKH’s testing of staff members and his result came back positive the next day, as did his serology test.
The nurse completed his vaccination regimen on 8 Feb, having received the first dose on 19 Jan.
He has tested preliminarily positive for the B1617 variant, which first emerged in India.
TTSH Cluster Grows, Another Case Linked to Grab Driver
The nurse wasn’t the only case reported in a hospital, as another TTSH patient has tested positive for COVID-19.
She is a 64-year-old Singaporean who had been warded in Ward 9D from 26 Apr and was transferred to NCID on 28 Apr.
After being identified as a close contact of the nurse who was the first to test positive in the cluster, the woman was placed on quarantine on 29 Apr.
She was tested for COVID-19 on 26, 28, and 30 Apr, and the results were all negative. So, she was discharged on 2 May but placed on quarantine.
She was then tested on 11 May during quarantine and this time, her result came back positive.
Her serology test had a negative result, suggesting a fresh infection.
The TTSH cluster now has 44 infections linked to it.
7 Cases Linked to Changi Airport Cluster
7 community infections were linked to the Changi Airport cluster, three of whom have tested preliminarily positive for the B1617 variant.
The three cases are:
- a 39-year-old male Singaporean who works as an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer at Changi Airport Terminal 3
- a 38-year-old female Singaporean who works as an ICA officer at Changi Airport Terminal 3
- a 65-year-old male Singaporean who is employed by Ramky Cleantech Services Pte Ltd as a cleaner at Changi Airport Terminal 3
The remaining four cases comprise:
- a 24-year-old male Singaporean who is employed by Huawei Enterprise as an IT engineer and works at Changi Airport Terminal 4
- a 62-year-old male Singaporean who is employed by Ramky Cleantech Services Pte Ltd as a cleaner and trolley handler at Changi Airport Terminal 3
- a 28-year-old male Singaporean who is employed by Certis Cisco as an aviation security officer at Changi Airport Terminal 3
- a 42-year-old male Singaporean who works as a sales associate at a retail store at Changi Airport Terminal 3
5 of the 7 cases had been fully vaccinated before their infection was detected.
382 Active Cases
There are currently 143 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and 3 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
239 are isolated and cared for at community facilities. These are those who have mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19.
31 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection.
Featured Image: kandl stock / Shutterstock.com (Image for illustration purpose only)