2 nonagenarians among 11 linked to TTSH cluster as Singapore reports 39 new Covid-19 cases

SINGAPORE — Two female nonagenarians who were warded in Tan Tock Seng Hospital's (TTSH) Ward 9D when a nurse was first found to be infected with Covid-19 are among 11 new cases linked to the cluster on Sunday (May 2).

One of the patients, aged 90, was warded from April 26 to 28, while the other, a 98-year-old, was warded from April 27 to 29.

Both were swabbed on April 28 and tested negative. However, a second test on April 30 for both women returned positive.

The nurse's infection was confirmed on April 27, and the TTSH cluster has now grown to 27.

Apart from the two nonagenarians, another five were discharged patients from the same ward. Aged between 60 and 89, they were discharged on April 27 or earlier.

Another three were visitors to Ward 9D between April 18 and 28.

The last patient linked to the cluster is a 27-year-old Malaysian woman who works as a physiotherapist at the same ward.

Aside from the 11, there were three other locally transmitted cases.

One is a 32-year-old Singaporean man who works as an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer deployed at the Home Team Academy. He is linked to the ICA officer cluster.

Another is a 53-year-old Malaysian woman who works as a hairstylist at Me To Do Studio in Woodlands Street 82. She is linked to the Vietnamese cleaner cluster.

The last community case is a 37-year-old domestic worker from India who arrived on Jan 13, tested negative later that month and was deployed to her employer’s place of residence after her quarantine.

She was detected when she took a pre-departure test on April 29 ahead of her return to India.

Sunday also saw 25 imported cases, who had already been placed on stay-home notice or isolated upon arrival in Singapore.

• Two are Singaporeans and eight are permanent residents who returned from India

• Four are dependant’s pass holders who came from Nepal

• Two are work pass holders who arrived from Nepal and the United States

• Five are work permit holders who came from Bangladesh, India and the Philippines, of whom three are foreign domestic workers

• Two are short-term visit pass holders who arrived from Indonesia

• Two are special pass holders, sea crew who came from China on a vessel

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has spiked from 10 cases in the week before to 51 cases in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also jumped from three cases in the week before to 11 in the past week.

Singapore's coronavirus total is now 61,218.

In all, 60,786 have fully recovered from the infection, including 21 who were discharged on Sunday.

There are currently 126 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Most of them are stable or improving, and none is in the intensive care unit.

Another 275 with mild symptoms, or who are clinically well but still test positive for Covid-19, are isolated at community facilities.

Thirty-one people have died from complications due to Covid-19 infection.