Covid-19: 3 more cases in TTSH cluster among 7 new infections in the community

• Singapore reported a total of 34 new Covid-19 infections on Saturday (May 1)
• This consists of seven in the community, two in migrant workers' dormitories and 25 imported cases
• The community cases include three linked to the Tan Tock Seng Hospital cluster and one student
• The cluster, which started with the detection of an infected nurse on April 27, now has 16 cases

SINGAPORE — Singapore reported seven new community cases of Covid-19 on Saturday (May 1), including three linked to the cluster at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) where a nurse working at Ward 9D was first found to be infected on April 27.

This brings the cluster at TTSH to 16, the Ministry of Health said in a press statement on Saturday.

Two of the three were patients while the third is the wife of a man who had been warded at TTSH.

One of the seven community cases was a student at Edgefield Secondary School.

In addition, there were two cases involving migrant workers living in dormitories and another 25 imported cases who had already been placed on Stay-Home Notice or isolated upon arrival in Singapore.

TTSH CLUSTER

The three latest cases are:

An 86 year-old Singaporean woman whose husband had been warded at TTSH Ward 9D from April 20 to April 22.

She sought medical treatment for an unrelated condition at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital on April 30, and was found to have a fever.

She was tested for Covid-19 and her test result came back positive on the same day. Her serological test result is pending.

A 70 year-old male Singaporean who was admitted to TTSH Ward 9D on April 22.

He tested negative for Covid-19 on April 28 while warded as part of MOH’s testing of staff and patients who have been in the affected wards.

He was transferred to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) on April 28.

Two day later, he developed fever and shortness of breath, and was tested again. This time, his test result came back positive for Covid-19 infection.

His serology test result has come back negative.

A 74 year-old female Singaporean who had been warded in TTSH Ward 9D from April 23 to April 27.

She was placed on quarantine on April 29, and tested for Covid-19 the next day.

Her test result came back positive on May 1 and she was taken in an ambulance to NCID. Her serological test result is pending.

FOUR COMMUNITY CASES

They are:

A 19 year-old Singapore permanent resident who is a student at Singapore Management University (SMU). She has been attending classes virtually, except for a physical visit to SMU on April 21.

She arrived from India on Dec 28, 2020, and served her Stay Home Notice (SHN) at a dedicated facility.

Her test taken on Jan 8 during quarantine was negative for Covid-19.

She is asymptomatic, and was detected when she took a Covid-19 pre-departure test on April 28 in preparation for a trip.

Her test result came back positive the next day, and she was taken to Changi General Hospital in an ambulance.

Her Ct value was very high, which is indicative of a low viral load, and her serology test result has come back positive, said MOH.

She 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 she had been infected, we will take all the necessary public health actions as a precautionary measure,” said MOH.

A 22 year-old female Malaysia national who works as a spa therapist at Spa 9 (41 Holland Drive).

She developed a runny nose on April 28 and sought medical treatment at a general practitioner clinic, where she was tested for Covid-19.

Her test result came back positive the next day. Her serological test has come back negative, indicating that this is likely a current infection.

A 50 year-old female Singapore permanent resident who works as a manager at DIC Asia Pacific (78 Shenton Way) but had only gone to work on April 26 and April 27 in the past month.

She had been in Japan from March 13 to April 9, and served SHN upon her return to Singapore at a dedicated facility until April 23.

Her test taken on April 22 during SHN was negative for Covid-19.

She developed body aches on April 27 and a fever the next day, and sought medical treatment at a general practitioner clinic on April 29, where she was tested for Covid-19.

Her test result came back positive the next day, and she was taken to NCID in an ambulance.

Her serological test result has come back negative, indicating that this is likely a current infection, said MOH.

A 15 year-old female Singaporean student at Edgefield Secondary School in Punggol, and was last in school on April 29.

She developed a sore throat on April 28, and subsequently a runny nose and anosmia (loss of ability to detect smell) the next day.

She reported sick while she was in school on April 29, and sought medical treatment at a general practitioner clinic, where she was tested for Covid-19.

Her test result came back positive the next day, and she was taken to the National University Hospital in an ambulance. Her serological test result is pending.

TWO DORM CASES

They are a 35 year-old male Myanmar national and work permit holder who works as a stevedore at Pasir Panjang Terminal and Brani Terminal and a 23 year-old male Indian national work permit holder who works as a stevedore at Pasir Panjang Terminal.

Both workers reside at Pasir Panjang Residence (33 Harbour Drive), were asymptomatic, and were detected when they were tested as part of MOH’s Rostered Routine Testing.

25 IMPORTED CASES

They are:

Five Singaporeans and four Singapore Permanent Residents who returned from Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, United Kingdom and the United States.

Five dependant’s pass holders who arrived from India and Nepal.

Four work pass holders who arrived from India and Nepal.

Four work permit holders who arrived from Indonesia and the Philippines, all of whom are foreign domestic workers.

Two short-term visit pass holders who arrived from the Philippines.

One special pass holder who is a sea crew. He arrived from India and had remained onboard until he was taken to a hospital.

MOH said all 25 cases had all already been placed on SHN or isolated upon arrival in Singapore and were tested while serving SHN or during isolation.

UPDATE ON REMAINING CASES

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased from 11 cases in the week before to 37 cases in the past week.

The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from four cases in the week before to 10 cases in the past week.

“We will continue to closely monitor these numbers, as well as the cases detected through our surveillance programme,” said MOH.

The 34 cases on Saturday means the total number of Covid-19 cases in Singapore now stands at 61,179.

In all, 60,765 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities, including 14 on Saturday.

There are currently 111 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and none is in the intensive care unit.

Another 272 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.

A total of 31 have passed away from complications due to Covid-19 infection, the latest of which was an 88-year-old woman who had been warded at TTSH.