Nursing aide at Orange Valley Nursing Home among 2 unlinked Covid-19 cases as S’pore reports 13 new infections

• Singapore reported 13 new Covid-19 cases on June 10
• Of these, four were in the community, two of which had no links to past cases
• There were nine imported cases and none in migrant worker dormitories
• The number of cases with no known links in the community has gone down from 26 in the week before to seven in the past week

SINGAPORE — A nursing aide at a nursing home for seniors in Balestier, as well as a worker at a sundry shop in Bukit Merah, were the two Covid-19 community cases with no known source of infection on Thursday (June 10).

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said that the 29-year-old nursing aide — who works at the Orange Valley Nursing Home — was detected on June 8 when he was tested for Covid-19 as part of the home’s surveillance testing for workers there.

The India national — who has been fully vaccinated — did not have any symptoms, MOH said.

The other case in the community with no known links is a 74-year-old Singaporean man who works at a sundry shop at the Bukit Merah View Market and Hawker Centre. 

The man developed a cough on June 8, followed by a sore throat the next day and went to a clinic.

He then took both the antigen rapid test and polymerase chain reaction test. The results were positive on June 9.

The two other cases in the community on Thursday have been linked to the Changi Prison cluster, as well as to a retail assistant at a Four Leaves bakery.

MOH added that it has been monitoring existing clusters for any further transmission.

“As there have been no more cases linked to the Grab cluster for the past two incubation periods, the cluster has now been closed,” it said.

In a separate statement, MOH said that it had concluded its testing operations in Punggol and the vicinity of Hougang Avenue 8. 

The operations involve:

• 452 residents and visitors of Block 325A Sumang Walk who were tested and all were found to be negative for Covid-19

• 4,347 visitors of Block 506 Hougang Avenue 8, and residents and visitors of neighbouring blocks (511 Hougang Avenue 10; 681, 683 and 684 Hougang Avenue 8; 682 Hougang Avenue 4; 685 and 698 Hougang Street 61).
  
  Of these, 4,273 people have tested negative and 74 more test results are pending

CASES LINKED TO PAST INFECTIONS

A 40-year-old Singaporean man — an inmate at Changi Prison — tested positive for Covid-19 on June 9. This brings the cluster there to 16 cases.

A baker from the St Leaven bakery at Takashimaya department store was the other linked case.

The 40-year-old Malaysian man was detected after he went for a Covid-19 test directed by his employer on June 7.

He had been identified as a family member and household contact of a worker at Four Leaves bakery whose infection was reported on Tuesday. 

Another nine cases were imported, making up a total of 13 cases reported on Thursday.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has plunged from 147 in the week before to 40 in the past week.

The number of cases with no known links in the community has also gone down from 26 in the week before to seven in the past week.

IMPORTED CASES

The nine new cases were all placed on stay-home notice upon their arrival here, MOH said.

They were:

• Two Singaporeans and five permanent residents who returned from Angola, India, the Philippines and the United Kingdom

• One work pass holder who came from the Philippines

• One work permit holder who arrived from Indonesia

UPDATE ON REMAINING CASES

The total number of infections in Singapore is now 62,236.

Of these, 61,765 people have fully recovered and been discharged, including 25 on Thursday.

There are still 150 patients in hospitals. Of these, most are stable or improving, and one is in critical condition.

Another 287 patients are isolated at community facilities. They have mild symptoms or are clinically well but still tested positive for Covid-19.

Thirty-four people have died from complications due to the disease.