Yesterday (11 Jun), the authorities announced that the tightened measures will finally be relaxed after Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) ends.
The cap on social gatherings and household visitors will be increased to five next Monday (14 June), while dining out will only be permitted from 21 June.
In the meantime, we have to hope that community cases don’t suddenly spike like they did a month ago.
Fortunately, that didn’t happen yesterday, as 13 new COVID-19 infections were reported, 4 of whom were from the community.
Here are the details:
Unlinked Community Includes a Nursing Aide in a Nursing House
Two of the four community cases detected had no established links. They are:
- a 29-year-old Indian man who works as a nursing aide at Orange Valley Nursing Home (Balestier)
- a 74-year-old Singaporean man who works at a sundry store at 115 Bukit Merah View Market & Hawker Centre
The 29-year-old is asymptomatic, but was tested on 8 June as part of the nursing home’s surveillance testing for staff.
His pooled test result came back positive the next day, as did an individual test. His serology test result is positive, meaning it is likely a past infection.
The man received his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine on 23 April, and the second dose on 14 May.
The 74-year-old developed a cough on 8 June and sore throat on 9 June, and sought medical treatment at a GP clinic on the same day, where he underwent both an ART and PCR test.
Both tests returned positive results. His serology test result is pending.
The man received his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on 16 March, and the second dose on 6 April.
Changi Prison Complex Cluster
Yet another inmate at Changi Prison Complex has tested positive, namely a 40-year-old Singaporean man.
He was placed on quarantine on 13 May after being identified as a close contact of a previous case.
He developed a cough and sore throat on 7 June and was tested the next day. His test result came back positive on 9 June.
All of his tests during quarantine – the last test being on 4 June – were negative. His serology test result is pending. He has tested preliminarily positive for the Delta variant, and is pending further confirmatory tests.
Last Linked Case
The last linked case is a 40-year-old Malaysian man who is a baker at St Leaven (Takashimaya).
He was placed on quarantine on 7 June after being identified as a family member and household contact of a previous case.
He went for a COVID-19 test on the same day as directed by his employer.
His test result came back positive, while his serology test result is negative for the N antigen, which suggests the presence of early infection.
The baker received his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on 31 May.
9 Imported Cases
There was a jump in imported cases when compared to the previous day, as 9 new infections from abroad were reported.
They are:
- 2 Singaporeans and 5 Singapore Permanent Residents who returned from Angola, India, the Philippines, and the UK
- 1 Work Pass holder who arrived from the Philippines
- 1 Work Permit holder who arrived from Indonesia
All had been placed on stay-home notice upon arrival here.
150 Cases in Hospitals
At the moment, there are 150 confirmed cases in hospitals, most of whom are stable or improving. 1 is in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
Another 287 cases with mild symptoms and lower risk factors are isolated and cared for at community facilities.
25 more cases have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities recently.
Featured Image: Google Maps