19 new Covid-19 infections in Singapore, sole community case is wife of previously diagnosed retiree

SINGAPORE — The wife of a retiree who was infected with the coronavirus earlier was the sole Covid-19 case in the community on Thursday (March 4), the Ministry of Health (MOH) said.

In its update of the coronavirus situation here, MOH said that the 81-year-old Singaporean woman was placed on quarantine on March 2 after she was identified as a close contact of her husband.

MOH said that the woman, also a retiree, had developed fever and chills on Feb 27 but did not seek medical attention — she recovered within the same day.

MOH, however, said that the woman had received her first dose of Covid-19 vaccine a day earlier on Feb 26, and her symptoms might “have been due to the vaccination”.

The woman was tested during her quarantine and her test result came back positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday. She was subsequently taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

“Her serological test result has come back negative, indicating that this is likely a current infection,” MOH said.

The ministry stressed that as the Covid-19 vaccine does not contain live virus, the woman could not have been infected due to her vaccination.

“It is possible for one to be infected just before or just after vaccination as it typically takes a few weeks for an individual to build up immunity after completing vaccination.”

IMPORTED CASES

There were 18 imported cases of Covid-19 registered on Thursday and all had been placed on stay-home notices upon their arrival here.

They are:

• Three Singaporeans and one permanent resident who returned from Ghana, India, Indonesia and the United States

• One work pass holder who arrived from Malaysia

• Eleven work permit holders who came from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, of whom five are foreign domestic workers

• One student's pass holder who arrived from the US for studies here

• One short-term visit pass holder who arrived from Indonesia to visit her Singaporean relative

UPDATE ON REMAINING CASES

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has gone down slightly from four in the week before to three in the past week, said MOH.

The number of cases with no known links in the community has remained stable at two per week in the past two weeks.

The total number of infections in Singapore is now 59,998.

Of these, 59,857 people have fully recovered and been discharged, including eight on Thursday.

There are still 24 patients in hospitals.

“Of these, most are stable or improving, and one is in critical condition in the intensive care unit,” said MOH.

Another 88 patients are isolated at community facilities. They have mild symptoms or are clinically well but still tested positive for Covid-19.

Twenty-nine people have died from complications due to the disease.