News Highlights

17th Jun 2021

1.     As of 17 June 2021, 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified that there are 20 new cases of locally transmitted COVID-19 infection. The cases are in the community, and there are no new cases in the dormitories. Of the 20 cases, 14 are linked to previous cases and have already been placed on quarantine. 6 were detected through surveillance, amongst whom 5 are linked to previous cases and 1 is currently unlinked.[1]  There are 7 imported cases, who have already been placed on Stay-Home Notice (SHN) or isolated upon arrival in Singapore. Amongst the new cases today, 12 are asymptomatic, and were detected from our proactive screening and surveillance, while 15 were symptomatic. 

Summary of new cases

2.     Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased from 40 cases in the week before to 93 cases in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from 7 cases in the week before to 18 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 130 confirmed cases reported from 11 June to 17 June, 45 cases have tested positive for their serology tests, 66 have tested negative, and 19 serology test results are pending.

Case Details

a) Cases in the community: 20

There are 20 cases in the community today, of whom 19 are linked to previous cases and 1 is currently unlinked.

Currently unlinked cases

Detected through surveillance

Case 64286 is a 72 year-old female Singaporean who works as a counter staff at McDonald‘s (Tiong Bahru Plaza). She is asymptomatic, and was detected when she was tested for COVID-19 on 16 June as part of our surveillance testing for staff who work at Tiong Bahru Plaza. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on the same day. Her serology test result is pending. Case 64286 received her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on 8 March and the second dose on 29 March.

115 Bukit Merah View Market & Food Centre cluster

Already quarantined

Case 64269 is a 32 year-old female Singapore Permanent Resident who works as an administrative staff at MSIG Insurance. She is a family member and household contact of Cases 64231[2] and 64278, and was placed on quarantine on 14 June. She was tested for COVID-19 on 15 June during quarantine. On the same day, she developed a fever and cough, and reported her symptoms. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 June. Her serology test result is negative.

Case 64270 is a 73 year-old female Singaporean who works as a stall assistant at Tiong Bahru Yong Tao Hu (56 Eng Hoon Street). She is a family member and household contact of Case 64217[3] and workplace contact of Case 64248[4], and was placed on quarantine on 14 June. She was tested for COVID-19 on 14 June during quarantine, and subsequently developed a sore throat on 15 June. On the same day, her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection. Her serology test result is pending. Case 64270 received her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on 6 March, and the second dose on 27 March.

Case 64272 is an 87 year-old female Singaporean who works at a sundry store at 115 Bukit Merah View Market & Food Centre, and was placed on quarantine on 12 June. She was tested for COVID-19 on 14 June during quarantine. On the same day, she developed a fever, headache and body aches. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 June. Her serology test result is negative.

Case 64273 is a 52 year-old female Singaporean who works as a food store vendor at 115 Bukit Merah View Market & Food Centre. As she had been identified as a close contact of Cases 64132[5] and 64195[6] , she was placed on quarantine on 13 June. She is asymptomatic, and was detected when she was tested for COVID-19 on 14 June during quarantine. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 15 June. Her serology test result is pending. Case 64273 received her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on 18 April, and the second dose on 16 May.

Case 64274 is a 14 year-old female Singapore Permanent Resident who is a student at Bukit Merah Secondary School, and had last gone to school on 18 May. She is a family member and household contact of Cases 64223[7] , 64225[8] , 64279, 64280, 64281 and 64283, and was placed on quarantine on 14 June. She was tested for COVID-19 on 15 June during quarantine and her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 June. She also developed a fever on the same day. Her serology test result is positive.

Case 64278 is a 3 year-old female Singaporean who does not attend any childcare facility. She is a family member and household contact of Cases 64231 and 64269, and was placed on quarantine on 14 June. She was tested for COVID-19 on 15 June during quarantine. On the same day, she developed a fever and cough. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 June. Her serology test result is negative.

Case 64279 is a 69 year-old female India national who is currently unemployed. She is a family member and household contact of Cases 64223, 64225, 64274, 64280, 64281 and 64283, and was placed on quarantine on 14 June. She is asymptomatic, and was detected when she was tested for COVID-19 test on 14 June during quarantine. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 15 June. Her serology test result is positive.

Case 64280 is a 50 year-old female India national who is unemployed. She is a family member and household contact of Cases 64223, 64225, 64274, 64279, 64281 and 64283, and was placed on quarantine on 14 June. She is asymptomatic and was detected when she was tested for COVID-19 on 15 June during quarantine. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 June. Her serology test result is positive.

Case 64281 is a 5 year-old male Singapore Permanent Resident who is a student at PCF Sparkletots Preschool (Henderson) and was last in school on 18 May. He is a family member and household contact of Cases 64223, 64225, 64274, 64279, 64280 and 64283, and was placed on quarantine on 14 June. He is asymptomatic and was detected when he was tested for COVID-19 on 15 June during quarantine. His test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 June. His serology test result is positive.

Case 64283 is a 13 year-old female Singapore Permanent Resident who is a student at Bukit Merah Secondary School and was last in school on 18 May. She is a family member and household contact of Cases 64223, 64225, 64274, 64279, 64280 and 64281, and was placed on quarantine on 14 June. She is asymptomatic and was detected when she was tested for COVID-19 on 15 June during quarantine. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 June. Her serology test result is positive.

Case 64284 is a 62 year-old female Singaporean who is a homemaker. She developed a cough and fever on 15 June but did not seek medical attention. As she had been identified as a close contact of Case 64271, she was placed on quarantine on 16 June, and reported her symptoms. She was tested for COVID-19 on 16 June during quarantine and her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on the same day. Her serology test result is negative for the N antigen, which suggests the presence of early infection. Case 64284 received her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on 15 March, and the second dose on 4 May.

Case 64296 is a 69 year-old male Singaporean who is a retiree, and helps out at a food stall at 115 Bukit Merah View Market & Food Centre. As he had been identified as a close contact of Cases 64187[9] and 64196[10], he was placed on quarantine on 13 June. He developed a runny nose on 15 June and reported his symptom on 16 June. He was tested for COVID-19 on 16 June during quarantine, and his antigen rapid test (ART) result came back positive on the same day. His polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 17 June. His serology test result is pending. Case 64296 received his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on 16 March, and the second dose on 6 April.

Detected through surveillance:

Case 64266 is a 60 year-old female Singaporean who works at Bioinfocomm Pte Ltd, and frequently visited 115 Bukit Merah View Market & Food Centre. She developed a fever on 15 June and sought treatment at a General Practitioner (GP) clinic on the same day, where she was administered both an ART and PCR test. Her ART result was negative for COVID-19. Her PCR test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 June. Her serology test result is negative for the N antigen, which suggests the presence of early infection. Case 64266 received her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on 19 March, and the second dose on 9 April.

Case 64267 is a 36 year-old male Singaporean who works as a shipping operator at Skyline Shipping Pte Ltd. He frequently visited 116 Bukit Merah View. He developed a fever on 15 June and sought medical treatment at a GP clinic on the same day, where he underwent both an ART and PCR test. His ART result was negative for COVID-19. His PCR test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 June. His serology test result is negative.

Case 64288 is a 65 year-old male Singaporean who works as a part-time food stall assistant at 115 Bukit Merah View Market and Food Centre. He was not placed on quarantine as he had not been identified as a worker at the food centre by his employer. He developed a cough on 13 June but did not seek medical treatment until 16 June when he visited a GP clinic, where he underwent an ART and PCR test. He was immediately isolated when his ART result came back positive for COVID-19. His PCR test result also came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 June. His serology test result is pending.

Case 64271 is a 23 year-old female Singaporean who works as a patient service associate at Singapore General Hospital. She is a family member and household contact of Case 64284, and a family member of Case 64285. She was detected when she was tested for COVID-19 on 15 June as part of the hospital’s surveillance testing for staff. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 on 16 June. On the same day, she developed a sore throat and blocked nose. Her serology test result is pending. Case 64271 received her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on 1 February and the second dose on 24 February.

Case 64285 is a 10 year-old female Singaporean who is a student at Zhangde Primary School, and had last gone to school on 18 May. She is a family member of Case 64271. She developed a fever on 15 June and sought medical treatment at a polyclinic the next day where she was tested for COVID-19. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 June. Her serology test result is pending.

Case 64184 cluster[11]

Already quarantined:

Case 64295 is a 52 year-old male Singaporean who works as a private hire driver for Tada. As he had been identified as a close contact of Case 64186[12], he was placed on quarantine on 15 June. He was tested for COVID-19 on 16 June and developed a cough on the same day. His test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 17 June. His serology test result is pending. Case 64295 received his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on 17 March, and the second dose on 14 April.

Other linked cases

Already quarantined:

Case 64268 is a 12 year-old female Singapore Permanent Resident who is a student at Tanglin Trust School. She developed a fever on 15 June. On the same day, as she had been identified as a household contact of Case 64233[13], she was placed on quarantine. She was tested for COVID-19 on 15 June during quarantine, and her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 June. Her serology test result is negative.

b) Cases residing in dormitories: 0

There are no cases residing in dormitories today.

c) Imported cases: 7

Amongst the 7 imported cases,

• 1 (Case 64277) is a Singaporean and 2 (Cases 64275 and 64276) are Singapore Permanent Residents who returned from India.

• 3 are Work Permit holders who arrived from Indonesia and Malaysia, of whom 2 (Cases 64287 and 64294) are foreign domestic workers.

• 1 (Case 64265) entered Singapore waters from Indonesia without valid documentation, and was arrested by the Singapore Police Force’s Police Coast Guard. He was tested for COVID-19 infection, and isolated until he was conveyed to the hospital when his result came back positive.

They have all already been placed on SHN or isolated 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.

6.     MOH has been monitoring existing clusters for any further transmission. As there have been no more cases linked to the Learning Point, Jin Tai Tong Food Industries and Case 63336 clusters for the past two incubation periods (i.e. 28 days), the clusters have now been closed.

Community surveillance testing for visitors to shops at 78, 79, 80, 84 and 85 Redhill Lane, 86 Redhill Close, 18 Jalan Membina and Tiong Bahru Yong Tao Hu Coffeeshop

7.     MOH is investigating cases of COVID-19 infection amongst individuals who work in or visited 78, 79, 80, 84 and 85 Redhill Lane, 86 Redhill Close, 18 Jalan Membina and Tiong Bahru Yong Tao Hu Coffeeshop (56 Eng Hoon Street). In order to disrupt any wider, undetected community transmission, we will conduct special testing operations for all staff and tenants who have been working at these premises.

8.     We will also extend free COVID-19 testing to members of the public who had visited:

     i) Any of the shops at 78, 79, 80, 84 and 85 Redhill Lane and 86 Redhill Close between 1 June and 15 June 2021;

     ii) Any of the shops at 18 Jalan Membina between 9 June and 15 June 2021; and

     iii) Tiong Bahru Yong Tao Hu Coffeeshop between 7 June and 14 June.

Please refer to https://go.gov.sg/rh-tb-testing for details on the testing operations.

9.     All visitors to these premises during the specified dates 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.

Update on condition of confirmed cases

10.     29 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 61,960 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.

11.     There are currently 151 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. 221 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.

Category: Press Releases Highlights