Covid-19: 10 new cases, including 5-year-old child; Safra Jurong cluster grows to 36

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Monday (March 9) announced 10 more cases of Covid-19 infections. Of these, six were traced to a private dinner function at Safra Jurong, bringing the number of cases linked to the cluster to 36.

Three of the 10 new infections are imported cases, while one is linked to the cluster at The Life Church and Missions Singapore in Paya Lebar.

This brings the total number of infections in the country to 160. Of these, 93 people so far have fully recovered and have been discharged.

One of the new cases is a five-year-old boy who is enrolled in The Orange Tree (CCK) preschool, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) said. He last attended preschool on March 6.

ECDA said that it has ordered the temporary closure of The Orange Tree (CCK) from Tuesday to March 20. This covers the 14-day incubation period of the coronavirus.

All children, teachers and staff members will be given a leave of absence during the closure period. The Orange Tree (CCK), located along Choa Chu Kang Road, will conduct a thorough cleaning and disinfection of the preschool premises.

In its daily update, MOH said that three patients were discharged on Monday, including a 62-year-old assistant cook (Case 112) from Creative O Preschool Bay in Jurong, a 26-year-old Singaporean man (Case 138) who went to a gym at Safra Punggol, and a 51-year-old Singaporean man (see Case 151 below).

Of the 67 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving.

Ten patients are in critical condition under intensive care.

PRIORITISATION OF RESOURCES AT PUBLIC HOSPITALS

The ministry said in a statement that in view of the rising number of Covid-19 infections globally, and the expected rise in the number of confirmed cases in Singapore, the authorities will need to prioritise the resources at public hospitals.

From March 7, foreigners who are short-term visit pass holders who seek treatment for Covid-19 in Singapore will need to pay for their treatment.

MOH will continue to waive Covid-19 testing fees for all short-term visit pass holders as part of the country’s public health measures to identify and initiate contact tracing for confirmed cases who may have been infectious while in Singapore.

The Government will continue to pay for the Covid-19 testing fees and hospital bill in full for Singapore residents and long-term pass holders who are admitted to public hospitals for Covid-19.

THE LATEST CASES

CASE 151

• Case 151 is a 51-year-old Singaporean man with no recent travel history to affected countries or regions.

• He was warded at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) and was discharged on March 9.

• He is a contact of Cases 66 and 91, and is linked to the cluster at the The Life Church and Missions Singapore in Paya Lebar. Cases 66 and 91 had attended a Chinese New Year gathering on Jan 25 at a residence on Mei Hwan Drive.

Case 152

• Case 152 is a 65-year-old Indonesian man who is an imported case

• He is warded at the Singapore General Hospital.

• He had symptoms while in Jakarta on Feb 28 and sought treatment there on March 2.

• He arrived in Singapore on March 7 and went the Singapore General Hospital (SGH).

• He was confirmed to have the Covid-19 on March 8 in the afternoon.

Case 153

• Case 153 is a 65-year-old Singaporean woman who had been in Indonesia from Feb 25 to 28 and had visited her sister who had pneumonia.

• She is now warded at SGH and is likely to be an imported case.

Case 154

• Case 154 is a 52-year-old British man who is warded at the NCID.

• He is an imported case and had arrived in Singapore on March 6

• He was confirmed as infected on March 9 in the morning.

Case 155

• Case 155 is a 47-year-old Malaysian woman who is a Singapore work pass holder.

• She has no recent travel history to affected countries or regions and is warded at the NCID.

• She is a contact of Case 128, who is linked to the cluster at Safra Jurong here a private dinner function was held at the Joy Garden Restaurant in the club on Feb 15. The diners were involved in singing activities and classes conducted by the People’s Association at several community clubs and residents' committees. 

Case 156

• Case 156 is a 50-year-old female Singapore permanent resident who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions.

• She is warded in an isolation room at NCID. She is linked to the Safra Jurong cluster.

Case 157

• Case 157 is a 54-year-old female Singapore permanent resident who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions.

• She was confirmed to have Covid-19 on March 9 in the morning, and is warded in an isolation room at NCID.

• She is a contact of Case 137, and is linked to the Safra Jurong cluster.

Case 158

• Case 158 is a 53-year-old Singaporean woman who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions.

• She was confirmed to have Covid-19 on March 9 in the morning, and is warded in an isolation room at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH).

• She is linked to the Safra Jurong cluster.

Case 159

• Case 159 is a 59-year-old Singaporean man who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions.

• He was confirmed to have Covid-19 on March 9 in the morning, and is warded in an isolation room at NTFGH.

• He is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at Safra Jurong.

Case 160

• Case 160 is a five-year-old Singaporean boy with no recent travel history to affected countries or regions.

• He is warded at KK Women's and Children's Hospital.

• He is a family member of Case 145, and is linked to the Safra Jurong cluster.

• He was confirmed to have the Covid-19 on March 9 in the morning.

LINKS BETWEEN PREVIOUS CASES

Further epidemiological investigations and contact tracing have uncovered links between previously announced and new cases. This was made possible with the assistance of the Singapore Police Force.

• Eight of the locally transmitted confirmed cases (Cases 31, 33, 38, 83, 90, 91 138 and 151), as well as Cases 8 and 9, are linked to The Life Church and Missions Singapore. These cases are linked to another 23 confirmed cases (Cases 48, 49, 51, 53, 54, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 63, 66, 67, 68, 70, 71, 73, 74, 78, 80, 81, 84, 88) who are linked to the Grace Assembly of God.

• Nine of the confirmed cases (Cases 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 27, 28, 34 and 40) are linked to Yong Thai Hang, a health products shop off Lavender Street, a health products shop off Lavender Street.

• Three of the confirmed cases (Cases 30, 36 and 39) are linked to the business meeting held at Grand Hyatt Singapore from Jan 20 to Jan 22.

• Five of the confirmed cases (Cases 42, 47, 52, 56 and 69) are linked to the Seletar Aerospace Heights construction site.

• Fourteen of the confirmed cases (Cases 93, 95, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 108 and 110) are linked to Wizlearn Technologies.

• Thirty-six of the confirmed cases (Cases 94, 96, 107, 112, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 120, 121, 122, 125, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 133, 134, 137, 139, 140, 142, 144, 145, 146, 148, 149, 150, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159 and 160) are linked to a private dinner function at Safra Jurong on Feb 15.

Investigations on these clusters are ongoing.

In its media statement, MOH said that contact tracing is underway for 14 locally transmitted cases to establish any links to previous cases or travel history to affected countries or regions.