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48-year-old woman is sole Covid-19 community case, 22 other cases imported

SINGAPORE — Singapore reported 23 new cases of Covid-19 on Saturday (March 27), of which one was in the community.

SINGAPORE — A female part-time food packer was the sole Covid-19 infection in the community reported on Saturday (March 28).

There were 22 other imported cases on Saturday and no new infections in the foreign worker dormitories here, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in a press release.

It added that the food packer, 48, works at Sheera at 5 Kaki Bukit Road 1 and her job does not entail interaction with customers.

The Singapore permanent resident’s case is currently unlinked.

She had travelled to India in March 2020, and returned to Singapore on Dec 11.

She served her Stay Home Notice (SHN) at a dedicated facility until Dec 25 and her test taken on Dec 21 during SHN was negative for Covid-19, said MOH.

“She is asymptomatic, and was detected when she took a Covid-19 pre-departure test on March 25 in preparation for another trip to India.”

Her test result came back positive on March 26, and she was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).

The ministry explained that another Covid-19 test conducted by the National Public Health Laboratory on March 26 was negative, and her serological test result has come back positive.

“She could be shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA (viral ribonucleic acid) from a past infection, but given that we are not able to definitively conclude when she had been infected, we will take all the necessary public health actions as a precautionary measure,” it added.

This is the second day in a row the nation has reported a community case, with the last case before this week being on March 12.

Overall, both the number of new cases in the community as well as that of unlinked cases in the community, has increased from none in the week before to two cases in the past week, said MOH.

IMPORTED CASES

The other 22 cases on Saturday were imported and had been placed on stay-home notices upon arrival in Singapore.

They are:  

  • A Singaporean man who returned from Kazakhstan and two Singapore permanent residents who returned from India
  • Three dependant’s pass holders who arrived from the Philippines, South Africa and the United States
  • Three student’s pass holders who arrived from India and Indonesia.
  • One work pass holder who arrived from India
  • 12 work permit holders who arrived from Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and the Philippines, of whom four are foreign domestic workers

MOH said that the 49 year-old Singaporean man had returned from Kazakhstan on March 11, and served his SHN at a dedicated facility until March 25.

Both his on-arrival swab done on March 11 and his test taken on March 24 during SHN were negative for Covid-19.

He developed a cough on the night of March 24 while serving SHN but did not report his symptom and went home on March 25 after his SHN ended.

On March 26, he developed a fever and headache and sought medical treatment at a clinic, where he was tested for Covid-19.

His test result came back positive for Covid-19 infection on the same day and he was taken to NCID.

UPDATE ON REMAINING CASES

The total number of Covid-19 cases in Singapore now stands at 60,288.

Of these, 60,113 people have fully recovered and been discharged, including 10 on Saturday.

There are still 32 patients in hospitals. Of these, most are stable or improving, and one is in critical condition under intensive care. 

Another 113 people are isolated at community care 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.

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Covid-19 coronavirus MOH

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