• Four employees from BS Industrial and Construction Supply are now infected with Covid-19
• The Ministry of Health is investigating if there is a breach of safety regulations at the company in Kallang
• One other case in the community have no known source of infection yet
• Another 36 cases of the 40 reported on the day are imported

SINGAPORE — Three people working at BS Industrial and Construction Supply in Kallang were among the four Covid-19 cases in the community reported on Wednesday (Jan 20).

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said that investigations are ongoing to assess if there had been any breach of safe management regulations at their workplace.

“The Government takes a serious view of any breach and will take actions should there be non-compliance,” it said.

The three employees are all linked to their colleague, a 39-year-old permanent resident who works as a sales personnel at the same company, whose source of infection is still unknown.

In its evening update on the coronavirus situation here, MOH said that two of the employees had gone to work despite having symptoms.

It stressed again that “everyone (should) do their part to reduce the risk of transmission”.

“Those who are unwell, including those showing early or mild symptoms, should be socially responsible and seek medical attention immediately and stay at home to prevent the spread of illness to others.”

FIRST EMPLOYEE

The first patient is a 27-year-old Malaysian who works as a sales personnel at the company.

He first developed a sore throat on Jan 14, followed by a loss of smell and taste on Jan 18 but did not see a doctor.

He also continued going to work.

He was contacted by the ministry on Jan 18 after his 39-year-old colleague was diagnosed on the same day, and was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital when he reported his symptoms.

He was tested for the virus there and confirmed to be infected on Jan 19, MOH said, adding that his serology test has come back negative indicating a likely current infection.

SECOND EMPLOYEE

The second employee, also a sales personnel, had similarly gone to work despite having symptoms. The 29-year-old Malaysian woman had a sore throat and difficulty breathing on Jan 16 but did not seek medical treatment and continued to go to work and interact with other people, MOH said.

On Jan 18, she was identified as a close contact to the first case from the company and taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) to be tested for the virus when she admitted to being sick.

Her test result came back positive on Jan 19.

THIRD EMPLOYEE

The third employee from BS Industrial and Construction Supply is a 28-year-old Malaysian woman who works in the finance department.

The work pass holder had a cough on Jan 19 and was placed on quarantine the same day.

She was then taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital when she reported her symptom.

“She subsequently tested positive for Covid-19 and was warded at NCID on the same day,” MOH said.

WORK PASS HOLDER DETECTED BEFORE TRIP

The fourth case in the community on Wednesday has no known links yet to confirmed cases so far.

He is a 46-year-old Indian national who works as a software engineer at Apar Technologies along Shenton Way.

A work pass holder, he had travelled to India between March 9 and Oct 29 last year, and to the United Arab Emirates between Oct 29 and Nov 13.

He then served his stay-home notice at a dedicated facility upon his return to Singapore until Nov 27, and his swab test done on Nov 23 during quarantine was negative for Covid-19.

Having no symptoms, he was detected when he took a Covid-19 pre-departure test for a trip to India on Jan 19.

“His result came back positive for Covid-19 the next day and he was conveyed to NCID. His Ct value is very high, which is indicative of a low viral load, and his serology test result has come back positive. These indicate a likely past infection,” the ministry said.

Investigations are ongoing for all the four cases in the community, which make up the 40 reported on Wednesday.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has shot up from four cases in the week before to 18 in the past week. 

The number of cases with no known links in the community has also gone up from two in the week before to sixin the past week.

IMPORTED CASES

There are 36 imported cases reported on Wednesday and they had already been placed on stay-home notice upon arrival in Singapore, MOH said.

They are:

• A Singaporean and a permanent resident who returned from Canada and India

• One dependant’s pass holder who came from India

• One long-term visit pass holder who arrived from India

• Four student’s pass holders who had been to India, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and Slovak Republic

• Four work pass holders who arrived from India and Ireland

• 20 work permit holders from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and Myanmar — of whom seven are foreign domestic workers

• Four short-term visit pass holders — two of them had arrived from India to visit their Singaporean relatives while the other two came from Myanmar and the United States for work assignments here

UPDATES ON REMAINING CASES

The total number of infections in Singapore is now 59,197.

Of these, 58,926 people have fully recovered and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities, including 32 on Wednesday.

There are still 45 patients in hospitals and most are in stable condition or improving. One person is in intensive care.

Another 197 patients are isolated at community facilities. They have mild symptoms or are clinically well but still tested positive for Covid-19.

Twenty-nine people have died from complications due to the disease.