10 New Cases of Locally Transmitted COVID-19 Infection

     As of 13 June 2021, 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified that there are 10 new cases of locally transmitted COVID-19 infection. 8 are linked to previous cases, amongst whom 5 have already been placed on quarantine, and 3 were detected through surveillance. The remaining 2 cases are currently unlinked. The cases are in the community, and there are no new cases in the dormitories. There are 3 imported cases, who have already been placed on Stay-Home Notice (SHN) upon arrival in Singapore. Amongst the new cases today, 7 are asymptomatic, and were detected from our proactive screening and surveillance, while 6 were symptomatic. 

Summary of new cases

2.   Overall, the number of new cases in the community has decreased from 116 cases in the week before to 36 cases in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also decreased from 17 cases in the week before to 15 cases in the past week. We will continue to closely monitor these numbers, as well as the cases detected through our surveillance programme. 

3.  Amongst the 80 confirmed cases reported from 7 June to 13 June, 44 cases have tested positive for their serology tests, 27 have tested negative, and 9 serology test results are pending.

Case Details

Cases in the community: 10

There are 10 cases in the community today, of whom 8 are linked to previous cases and 2 are currently unlinked.Currently unlinked casesDetected through surveillance:Case 64192 is a 23 year-old male India national who works as a nursing aide at All Saints Home (Hougang). He is asymptomatic, and was detected when he was tested for COVID-19 on 11 June as part of the nursing home’s surveillance testing for staff. His pooled test result came back positive for COVID-19 on 11 June, and an individual test was done on the same day. His individual test result came back negative for COVID-19 on 11 June but another test administered on 12 June came back positive for COVID-19 infection. His Ct value was very high, which is indicative of a low viral load, and his serology test result is positive. He is likely to be shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA from a past infection, which are no longer transmissible and infective to others, but we have taken all necessary public health actions. Case 64192 received his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on 10 March, and the second dose on 31 March.Case 64184 is a 27 year-old male India national who works as an engineer at Ecoxplore Pte Ltd. He was tested for COVID-19 on 10 June as part of Rostered Routine Testing (RRT). He subsequently developed a fever on the same day. His pooled test result came back positive for COVID-19 on 11 June, and an individual test was administered. His individual test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 12 June. His serology test result is negative.115 Bukit Merah View Market & Food Centre clusterAlready quarantined:Case 64187 is a 50 year-old male Bangladesh national who is employed by Theng Liang Lee Services as a conservancy worker at 115 Bukit Merah View Market & Food Centre. As he had been identified as a close contact of Case 64132 [1], he was placed on quarantine on 11 June. He is asymptomatic, and was detected when he was tested for COVID-19 on 11 June during quarantine. His test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 12 June. His serology test result is pending.Case 64193 is a 72 year-old male Singaporean who works at a sundry shop at 115 Bukit Merah View Market & Food Centre. As he had been identified as a close contact of Case 64132, he was placed on quarantine on 11 June. He was tested for COVID-19 on 12 June during quarantine, and his test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on the same day. He subsequently developed a runny nose on 13 June. His serology test result is pending. Case 64193 received his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on 16 May, and the second dose on 6 June.Case 64195 is a 67 year-old female Singaporean who is a food stall vendor at 115 Bukit Merah View Market & Food Centre. As she had been identified as a close contact of Case 64132, she was placed on quarantine on 12 June. She is asymptomatic, and was detected when she was tested for COVID-19 on 12 June during quarantine. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 13 June. Her serology test result is pending. Case 64195 received her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on 10 May, and the second dose on 31 May.Case 64196 is a 65 year-old male Singaporean who is a food stall vendor at 115 Bukit Merah View Market & Food Centre. As he had been identified as a close contact of Case 64132, he was placed on quarantine on 11 June. He is asymptomatic, and was detected when he was tested for COVID-19 infection on 12 June during quarantine. His test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection the next day. His serology test result is pending. Case 64196 received his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on 22 March, and the second dose on 12 April.Case 64184 clusterDetected through surveillance:Case 64186 is a 19 year-old female Singaporean who works as a warehouse assistant at DHL Express (Singapore) Pte Ltd. She is a family member and household contact of Case 64191 and a household contact of Case 64184. She developed a fever, sore throat, cough and runny nose on 10 June and sought medical treatment at  a polyclinic on 11 June, where she was administered both an antigen rapid test (ART) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. She was immediately isolated when her ART result came back positive. Her PCR test result also came back positive for COVID-19 infection on the same day. Her serology test result is negative.Case 64191 is a 39 year-old female Singaporean who is employed by Cleen First Services Pte Ltd as a cleaner at Emerald Park condominium. She is a family member and household contact of Case 64186 and a household contact of Case 64184. She developed a fever on 11 June and sought medical treatment at  a polyclinic on 12 June, where she was administered both an ART and PCR test. She was immediately isolated when her ART result came back positive for COVID-19. Her PCR test also came back positive for COVID-19 infection on the same day. Her serology test result is negative.Other linked casesAlready quarantined:Case 64194 is a 59 year-old female Singaporean who works as a part-time cleaner at Crystal Lodge. She is a close contact of Case 64135 [2], and was placed on quarantine on 11 June. She is asymptomatic, and was detected when she was tested for COVID-19 on 12 June during quarantine. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 13 June. Her serology test result is pending.Detected through surveillance:Case 64185 is a 66 year-old male Singaporean who is a retiree, and a family member of Case 64183 [3]. He developed a cough on 11 June and sought medical treatment at a General Practitioner (GP) clinic on the same day, where he underwent both an ART and  PCR test. His ART result was negative for COVID-19, but his PCR test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 12 June. His serology test result is pending. b) Cases residing in dormitories: 0There are no cases residing in dormitories today.Amongst the 3 imported cases,2 (Cases 64188 and 64190) are Singapore Permanent Residents who returned from India.1 (Case 64189) is a Work Permit holder who arrived from Indonesia and is a foreign domestic worker.They have all already been placed on SHN upon arrival in Singapore and were tested while serving SHN.4.  Please refer to the Annexes and MOH’s daily Situation Report (www.moh.gov.sg/covid-19/situation-report) for details.

5.   Epidemiological investigations are in progress. In the meantime, all the identified close contacts of the cases have been isolated and placed on quarantine, and will be tested at the start and end of their quarantine period so that we can detect asymptomatic cases. We will also conduct serological tests for the close contacts to determine if the cases could have been infected by them.

Community surveillance testing for visitors to shops at 115 and 116 Bukit Merah View 6.   MOH is investigating 6 cases (Cases 64132, 64158, 64187, 64193, 64195 and 64196) of COVID-19 infection amongst individuals who work in 115 Bukit Merah View Market & Food Centre. Our epidemiological investigations have found that there is likely ongoing transmission among individuals who work at the location. All staff and tenants who have been working at 115 Bukit Merah View Market & Food Centre from 25 May have been placed on quarantine, and will be tested during quarantine. In order to disrupt any wider, undetected community transmission, we will conduct special testing operations for all staff and tenants who have been working in 116 Bukit Merah View from 25 May. We will also extend free COVID-19 testing to members of the public who had visited the shops at 115 and 116 Bukit Merah View between 25 May and 12 June. Please refer to http://go.gov.sg/bmv-testing for details on the testing operations.

7.   All visitors to 115 and 116 Bukit Merah View between 25 May and 12 June are advised to monitor their health closely, and minimise social interactions as far as possible, for 14 days from their date of visit. They are encouraged to see a doctor immediately if they feel unwell.

8.   To break any potential chain of transmission and enable deep cleaning of the premises, 115 Bukit Merah View Market & Food Centre has been closed to all members of the public from 13 June to 15 June 2021.

Update on condition of confirmed cases9.   31 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 61,869 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.

10.  There are currently 130 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and 1 is in critical condition in the intensive care unit. 243 are isolated and cared for at community facilities. These are those who have mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19. 34 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH
13 JUNE 2021

[1] Case 64132 is a 74 year-old male Singaporean who works at a sundry store at 115 Bukit Merah View Market & Food Centre. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 9 June.

[2] Case 64135 is a 57 year-old female Singaporean who works as a promoter at Guardian (ION Orchard). She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 10 June.

[3] Case 64183 is a 68 year-old male Singaporean who works as a landscape gardener at Amozonia Pte Ltd. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 12 June.