Covid-19 cluster at Mindsville@Napiri in Hougang grows to 27; 1 unlinked case in community

• There were 45 Covid-19 cases reported on June 3
• Of these, 35 were in the community, one of which had no link to past cases
• There were 10 imported cases and none in migrant workers’ dormitories
• A new cluster has emerged at Block 506 Hougang Avenue 8 with 13 cases linked to it
• The number of cases with no known links in the community has gone up from 24 in the week before to 26 in the past week

SINGAPORE — An employee at SBM Keppel Tuas was the sole Covid-19 community case with no known source of infection on Thursday (June 3).

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said that the 41-year-old permanent resident had travelled to India in July last year and returned in April. He then served his quarantine and his tests done then were negative for the coronavirus.

The man — who works as a coating inspector — was detected when he was tested on June 1 as part of the ministry’s routine testing of workers.

“His serology test result is positive, which is indicative of a past infection. We have classified him as a local unlinked case, as we cannot fully exclude the possibility that he had been infected locally,” MOH said.

The cluster at the Mindsville@Napiri housing facility for people with intellectual disability now has 27 confirmed infections after 22 more cases were detected.

Three nursing aides and 19 residents at the home have tested positive for the virus. Only two of these new 22 cases have not been vaccinated against Covid-19.

The remaining 12 cases in the community have been traced to past infections — including a homemaker who has been linked to a new cluster located at Block 506 Hougang Avenue 8.

MOH said that whole genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis conducted by the National Public Health Laboratory have revealed links among previous cases there to the new cluster.

So far, the Hougang cluster has grown to 13 cases. The first case reported there was a Malaysian woman who was confirmed infected on May 15.

The clusters linked to McDonald’s delivery riders as well as the NTUC Foodfare coffee shop in Anchorvale in Sengkang each had one more case added.

Another 10 cases were imported, making up a total of 45 cases confirmed on Thursday.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has gone down slightly from 152 in the week before to 147 in the past week.

The number of cases with no known links in the community has, however, gone up from 24 in the week before to 26 in the past week.

NEW CASE AT BLOCK 506 HOUGANG AVENUE 8

A 58-year-old Singaporean woman who is a homemaker had a fever, cough and runny nose from May 29 to 31 May before she saw a doctor on June 1. She got her first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine on May 18.

NEW CASE IN MCDONALD’S DELIVERY RIDERS CLUSTER

A 30-year-old Malaysian man who is employed by IVIC Logistic works as a delivery rider for McDonald’s located at Tampines Street 32. He had his first dose of a vaccine on May 16 and had no symptoms when he was detected during quarantine.

He has tested positive preliminarily for the B1617 virus strain.

This cluster now has 21 confirmed cases.

NEW CASE IN NTUC FOODFARE CLUSTER

A 39-year-old China national who works as a kitchen assistant in the coffee shop at 308 Anchorvale Road had a fever and sore throat on June 2 and she was tested during quarantine.

There are now 11 cases in this cluster.

CASES NOW LINKED TO PAST INFECTIONS

• A three-year-old Singaporean boy who goes to My First Skool at 332B Anchorvale Link in Sengkang and was last in school on May 12

• A 24-year-old Singaporean man who works as an insurance agent at Great Eastern Life and a part-time GrabFood delivery driver

• A 17-year-old Malaysian teenager who is a student there. MOH said that the girl has been in Singapore since September last year to visit her Singaporean family members

• A 23-year-old Singaporean woman who is a student at the Singapore University of Social Sciences and has not been on campus since last year

• A 30-year-old Indonesian woman who is a foreign domestic worker

• A 51-year-old Singaporean man who works as a private-hire driver for Grab

• An 85-year-old Singaporean man who is a retiree. The man was detected when he was tested as part of a special testing operations for residents at Block 745, Yishun Street 72

• A 60-year-old Singaporean woman who is a homemaker. She is a family member of the retiree above and was also tested during the same testing operation

• A 29-year-old Indonesian woman who works as a foreign domestic worker

IMPORTED CASES

The 10 new cases were all placed on stay-home notice upon their arrival here, MOH said.

They were:

• Four Singaporeans and one permanent resident who returned from India

• Five work permit holders who arrived from Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar — three of whom are foreign domestic workers

UPDATE ON REMAINING CASES

The total number of infections in Singapore is now 62,145.

Of these, 61,557 people have fully recovered and been discharged, including 34 on Thursday.

There are still 231 patients in hospitals. Of these, most are stable or improving, and two are in critical condition.

Another 324 patients are isolated at community facilities. They have mild symptoms or are clinically well but still tested positive for Covid-19.

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