NUS senior research fellow among 2 Covid-19 community infections; 32 other imported cases

SINGAPORE — A 34-year-old senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore (NUS) is one of two Covid-19 community cases reported on Friday (April 16).

In its update on the coronavirus situation here, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said the work pass holder had travelled to India from Dec 28 to March 21. Upon his return, he served a stay-home notice (SHN) at a dedicated facility here.

The man’s pre-departure test taken in India on March 19 was negative for the coronavirus, as was his swab on arrival in Singapore on March 21.

While serving his SHN, the man was identified as a close contact of a confirmed case during their flight to Singapore. He was then quarantined at a dedicated facility from March 24 to April 11.

MOH said that the man’s Covid-19 tests — conducted on March 25, April 3 and April 10 — during his quarantine were all negative for the coronavirus.

The day after he ended his quarantine, the Indian national had then gone to work at NUS for only one day on April 12, when he had an “onset of symptoms in the evening while at work”.

The man developed fatigue that evening, and then developed sore throat and body aches on April 13 and a fever on April 14.

“He stayed at home from April 13, and only left his residence to seek medical treatment at a polyclinic on April 14, where he was tested for Covid-19,” said MOH.

The man’s test result came back positive on Thursday, and he was subsequently taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

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

The other case in the community is a 44-year-old Indonesian man who is a short-term visit pass holder.

The man had arrived from Indonesia on Feb 28 as a caregiver to his father who was already receiving medical care here and had returned for further treatment for a condition that is not related to Covid-19, MOH said.

The man’s pre-departure test taken in Indonesia on Feb 26, as well as a test in Singapore on March 1, were negative for Covid-19.

He then served his SHN at a dedicated facility until March 14. A test conducted on March 13 also came back negative for the virus.

MOH said that the man had no symptoms and Covid-19 was detected when he took a pre-departure test on Wednesday in preparation for his intended return to Indonesia.

“His test result came back positive on the same day, and he was conveyed in an ambulance to a hospital. His serology test result is pending,” MOH said.

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

IMPORTED CASES

There were 32 imported cases of Covid-19 registered on Friday and all had been placed on stay-home notices or isolated upon their arrival here.

They are:

• Three Singaporeans and six permanent residents who returned from India, Myanmar and the Philippines

• Four dependant’s pass holders who arrived from India and the Netherlands

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

• Sixteen work permit holders who arrived from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and Myanmar — two of whom foreign domestic workers

• Two short-term visit pass holders. One had arrived from France for a work project while the other came from India to visit his family member here

UPDATE ON REMAINING CASES

The total number of infections in Singapore is now 60,769.

Of these, 60,446 people have fully recovered and been discharged, including 29 on Friday.

There are still 51 patients in hospitals. Of these, most are stable or improving, and two are in critical condition in the intensive care unit, MOH said.

Another 242 patients are isolated at community facilities. They have mild symptoms or are clinically well but still tested positive for Covid-19.

Thirty people have died from complications due to the disease.