4 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore, including 1 in foreign worker dorm at Kranji Way

SINGAPORE — A migrant worker who lives in a dormitory located on Kranji Way was the sole locally transmitted case of Covid-19 here on Tuesday (Feb 23). The remaining three cases are all imported, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said.

In its update of the coronavirus situation here, MOH said that the 35-year-old Bangladeshi works as a delivery assistant at Chng Woodworking, a manufacturer of timber products located in Kranji.

The man’s job entails loading and unloading of goods and he does not interact with clients, MOH said.

He was detected when his pooled Covid-19 test taken last Sunday as part of the routine testing of workers came back positive for the coronavirus.

An individual swab was done on Monday and the man then started to develop a sore throat and cough that same day.

He was confirmed to have an infection on Tuesday and was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

MOH said that the man’s previous results — the last being on Feb 7 — were negative for the virus.

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

“In the meantime, all the identified close contacts of the case, including his dormitory and workplace contacts, have been isolated and placed on quarantine, and will be tested at the start and end of their quarantine period so that we can detect asymptomatic cases.”

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has gone down from five in the week before to two in the past week.

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

IMPORTED CASES

The three imported cases of Covid-19 confirmed on Tuesday had all been placed on stay-home notices upon their arrival here.

They are:

• A work pass holder who arrived from the United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom

• A work permit holder who came from the Philippines and is a foreign domestic worker

• A short-term visit pass holder who arrived from India to visit his family members who are permanent residents here

UPDATE ON REMAINING CASES

The total number of infections in Singapore is now 59,883.

Of these, 59,753 people have fully recovered and been discharged, including seven on Tuesday.

There are still 19 patients in hospitals, including one who is in critical condition in an intensive care unit.

Another 82 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.