Skip to main content

New! You can personalise your feed. Try it now

Advertisement

Advertisement

Shop owner at Chinatown Complex and son who have Covid-19 didn’t see doctor or use TraceTogether token or app

SINGAPORE — An owner of a sundry shop at Chinatown Complex as well as his son who works at the Swensen’s restaurant at Changi Airport Terminal 3 made up two of the three community Covid-19 cases in Singapore on Thursday (Feb 11).

With increased interactions over the Chinese New Year period, the Ministry of Health said that there will be higher transmission risks in the community.

With increased interactions over the Chinese New Year period, the Ministry of Health said that there will be higher transmission risks in the community.

Follow TODAY on WhatsApp

 

  • A shop owner in Chinatown Complex was found to have Covid-19
  • This was detected through a community surveillance testing of stallholders and shop owners in Chinatown on Feb 9
  • His son, a part-time waiter at Swensen’s restaurant, was also infected
  • A third community case is a full-time national serviceman 
  • The Ministry of Health reminded the public again to see a doctor and stay home when they feel unwell, and to use the TraceTogether token or app

 

 

SINGAPORE — An owner of a sundry shop at Chinatown Complex as well as his son who works at the Swensen’s restaurant at Changi Airport Terminal 3 made up two of the three community Covid-19 cases in Singapore on Thursday (Feb 11).

The father and son both did not use the TraceTogether mobile application and did not see a doctor when they had symptoms, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said.

“While they both have TraceTogether tokens, they did not carry their tokens with them,” MOH added.

“Individuals are reminded to turn on their TraceTogether app or carry their TraceTogether token at all times so that we can quickly identify and isolate the close contacts of Covid-19 cases, and limit further infections.”

In its update on the coronavirus situation here, MOH said that the owner of the sundry shop is a 66-year-old permanent resident who developed a dry cough on Jan 28 and anosmia — the partial or complete loss of the sense of smell — on Feb 9 but he did not see a doctor.

His case was detected through the ministry’s community surveillance testing of stallholders and shop owners in Chinatown on Feb 9.

The man’s test result came back positive for Covid-19 on Feb 10 and he was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).

MOH said that his serology test for a past infection has come back negative, which is indicative of a “likely current infection”.

The man’s son had last been to work at Swensen’s restaurant on Feb 8, MOH said.

The 32-year-old part-time waiter developed a runny nose on Feb 8 but did not seek medical treatment as well.

He was contacted by MOH on Feb 10 since he is a close contact of his father, and was placed on quarantine.

That was when he reported his symptoms and was taken to NCID where he was tested for Covid-19 that same day.

His test result came back positive for the coronavirus on Thursday.

“His serology test result has come back negative, indicating that this is likely a current infection,” MOH said.

The ministry stressed that the public should do their part to reduce the risk of Covid-19 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.” 

SERVICEMAN AT PAYA LEBAR AIRBASE 

The third case in the community is a 20 year-old full-time national serviceman who works at Singapore Armed Forces premises at 200 Airport Road, outside Paya Lebar Air Base.

MOH said that the man does not stay in camp and his work does not entail interacting with other units.

He had felt unwell on Feb 3 and sought treatment at a general practitioner.

As he did not have symptoms associated with an acute respiratory infection, he was not tested for Covid-19 but was placed on medical leave.

The man went back to work on Feb 8 but developed a fever and runny nose the next day.

He then sought medical treatment at the medical centre located at Paya Lebar Airbase and was swabbed.

“His test result came back positive for Covid-19 (on Wednesday), and he was conveyed in an ambulance to NCID. His serology test result has come back negative, indicating that this is likely a current infection,” MOH said.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has gone up from three in the week before to seven in the past week.

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

HIGHER RISKS DURING CHINESE NEW YEAR

With increased interactions over the Chinese New Year period, MOH said that there will be higher transmission risks in the community.

It is important that everyone remain vigilant and adhere to the safety rules.

MOH stressed that the number of visitors for each household is limited to eight different persons a day. And each person should visit just two households daily at most.

“We encourage everyone to connect digitally with their family and friends instead of going on physical visits. For those who plan to do house visits, they should limit their visits to family members and to not visit more than two other households a day.

“Face masks must be worn during lohei, and there should not be any verbalisation of the usual auspicious phrases,” it added, referring to the festive tradition of tossing a raw fish salad. 

“If we all play our part, we can continue to keep the number of cases in our community low.”

COMMUNITY TESTING IN AND AROUND CHINATOWN

Separately, MOH said that the multi-ministry Covid-19 task force has been conducting surveillance testing for identified community groups.

In the lead up to Chinese New Year, which lasts from Feb 12 to 26 this year, MOH carried out surveillance testing for stallholders, shop owners, people working in the food-and-beverage industry, as well as food delivery persons operating in and around Chinatown.

In all, 1,221 individuals were tested on Feb 8 and 9. Of these, one case — the owner of the sundry shop — tested positive for Covid-19.

One other sample was rejected by the laboratory, and the remaining 1,219 individuals did not have the virus, MOH said.

IMPORTED CASES

There were nine imported cases of Covid-19 confirmed on Thursday and all had been placed on stay-home notices upon their arrival here.

They are:

One Singaporean and one permanent resident who returned from Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

One dependant’s pass holder who arrived from the Maldives

One work pass holder who came from the UAE

Four work permit holders who arrived from Indonesia and Myanmar — two of whom are foreign domestic workers.

One short-term visit pass holder who arrived from India to visit his family member who is a permanent resident

UPDATE ON REMAINING CASES

The total number of infections in Singapore is now 59,759.

Of these, 59,558 people have fully recovered and been discharged, including 32 on Thursday.

There are 33 patients in hospitals, including one who is in intensive care.

Another 139 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.

Related topics

MOH Covid-19 coronavirus Chinatown Chinese New Year

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.