News Highlights

17th May 2021

       As of 17 May 2021, 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified that there are 21 new cases of locally transmitted COVID-19 infection, of whom 10 are linked to previous cases, and 11 are currently unlinked. Amongst them, 6 had already been placed on quarantine earlier. The cases are in the community, and there are no new cases in the dormitories. There are 7 imported cases, who had already been placed on Stay-Home Notice (SHN) upon arrival in Singapore. Amongst the new cases today, 9 are asymptomatic, and were detected from our proactive screening and surveillance, while 19 were symptomatic.  

Summary of new cases
2.     Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased from 32 cases in the week before to 149 cases in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from 7 cases in the week before to 42 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 235 confirmed cases reported from 11 May to 17 May, 71 cases have tested positive for their serology tests, 142 have tested negative, and 22 serology test results are pending.

Case Details

a) Cases in the community: 21

There are 21 cases in the community today, of whom 10 are linked to previous cases and 11 are currently unlinked. 

Currently unlinked cases 

Detected through surveillance:

Case 63333 is a 26 year-old female Singaporean who is a student at the National Institute of Education (NIE), and a part-time private tutor. She had last gone to NIE on 30 April. She developed body aches on 13 May, and a blocked nose and cough the next day. On 15 May, she sought medical treatment at a General Practitioner (GP) clinic, where she was tested for COVID-19. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 May. Her serology test result is pending.

Case 63334 is a 76 year-old female Singaporean who is a retiree. She developed a fever on 13 May and sought medical treatment at a GP clinic on 15 May, where she tested positive for her antigen rapid test (ART). She was immediately isolated and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test was taken on the same day. Her PCR test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 May. Her serology test result is negative.

Case 63335 is a 57 year-old female Singaporean who works as an administrative personnel at Pacific Law Corporation. She developed a cough and sore throat on 12 May but did not seek medical treatment until 15 May, when she visited a polyclinic and was tested for COVID-19. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 May. Her serology test result is pending.

Case 63336 is a 22 year-old female Singaporean who works at Invade Industry Pte Ltd. She developed chills, sore throat and a runny nose on 14 May, and sought medical treatment at a GP clinic on the same day, where she was tested for COVID-19. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 May. Her serology test result is negative.

Case 63345 is a 28 year-old male Singaporean who works as a retail assistant at Alan Photo Pte Ltd located at Funan Mall. He developed a fever and headache on 14 May and sought medical treatment at a GP clinic on the same day, where he was given 2 days’ of medical leave. On 15 May, as his fever had not subsided, he returned to the clinic, and was tested for COVID-19. His test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 May. His serology test result is pending.

Case 63347 is a 45 year-old female Indonesia national who is employed by Clean Hub Facility Pte Ltd as a cleaner at EuHabitat. She developed a cough and body aches on 12 May, and fever and anosmia on 15 May. She sought medical treatment at a hospital on 15 May, where she was tested for COVID-19. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 May. Her serology test result is pending.

Case 63348 is a 47 year-old female Singaporean who works at Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore. She developed a fever on 15 May, and sought medical treatment at a GP clinic on the same day, where she was tested for COVID-19. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 May. Her serology test result is pending. 

Case 63354 is a 37 year-old female Singaporean who is a teacher at Frontier Primary School. She developed sore throat, body aches and fever on 14 May, and sought medical treatment at a GP clinic on the same day, where she was tested for COVID-19. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 May. Her serology test result is pending. She has tested preliminarily positive for the B.1.617 variant, and is pending further confirmatory tests.

Case 63356 is a 16 year-old male Singapore Permanent Resident who is a student at Singapore Polytechnic. He developed a fever, sore throat, headache and anosmia on 14 May, and sought medical treatment at a GP clinic on the same day, where he was tested for COVID-19. His test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 May. His serology test result is pending. He has tested preliminarily positive for the B.1.617 variant, and is pending further confirmatory tests. 

Case 63357 is a 32 year-old male Singaporean who works as an IT engineer at AbbVie Operations Singapore Pte Ltd. He developed a fever, headache, cough and body aches on 15 May and sought medical treatment at a GP clinic the next day, where he tested positive for his antigen rapid test (ART). He was immediately isolated and a PCR test was taken on the same day. His test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on the same day. His serology test result is pending.

Case 63366 is a 20 year-old male Singaporean who is a full-time National Serviceman. He developed a runny nose on 12 May but did not seek medical treatment until 16 May when he also developed a cough. He was tested for COVID-19, and his test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 17 May. His serology test result is pending. Case 63366 received his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on 18 March, and the second dose on 8 April.

Changi Airport Terminal 3 cluster

Already quarantined:

Case 63343 is a 37 year-old female Indonesia national who is a foreign domestic worker. She is a household contact of Cases 63146¹and 63344, and was placed on quarantine on 12 May. She was tested for COVID-19 on 15 May during quarantine, and developed a fever and cough on the same day. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 May. Her serology test result is negative. 

Case 63344 is a 63 year-old female Singaporean who is a homemaker. She is a family member and household contact of Cases 63146² and 63291³, and was placed on quarantine on 12 May. She is asymptomatic, and was detected when she was tested for COVID-19 on 15 May during quarantine. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 May. Her serology test result is negative for the N antigen, which suggests the presence of early infection. Case 63344 received her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on 8 April, and the second dose on 30 April.

Case 63346 is a 8 year-old male Singaporean who is a student at Fuchun Primary School. He is a family member and household contact of Case 63141⁴, and was placed on quarantine on 12 May. He is asymptomatic, and was detected when he was tested for COVID-19 on 15 May during quarantine. His test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 May. His serology test result is negative.  

Detected through surveillance:

Case 63351 is a 49 year-old female Singaporean who is employed by Certis Cisco as an aviation security officer at Changi Airport Terminal 3. She developed a cough and headache on 10 May, and anosmia on 14 May. She sought medical treatment at a GP clinic on 14 May where she was tested for COVID-19. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 May. Her serology test result is pending. Her earlier tests from Rostered Routine Testing (RRT) – the last being on 7 May – were all negative for COVID-19 infection. She has tested preliminarily positive for the B.1.617 variant, and is pending further confirmatory tests.

Learning Point cluster

Already quarantined:

Case 63353 is a 7 year-old female Singaporean who is a student at Maha Bodhi School. She also attends student care at Seedlings World Student Care @ Frankel, and was identified as a close contact of Case 63188⁵. She was placed on quarantine on 14 May. She developed a fever on 15 May and was tested for COVID-19 on the same day. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 May. Her serology test result is negative.  

Detected through surveillance:

Case 63337 is a 72 year-old male Singaporean who is a retiree and family member of Case 63279⁶. He developed a cough and fever on 15 May and sought medical treatment at a GP clinic where he was tested for COVID-19. As he had been identified as a close contact of Case 63279, he was placed on quarantine on 15 May. His test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 May. His serology test result is positive. Case 63337 received his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on 2 March, and the second dose on 23 March.

WOK HEY (White Sands) cluster

Already quarantined:

Case 63365 is a 62 year-old male Singaporean who is a retiree. He is a family member and household contact of Cases 63166⁷, 63241⁸ and 63280⁹. As he had been identified as a close contact of Case 63166, he was placed on quarantine on 13 May. He developed a fever, cough and flu on 16 May and was tested for COVID-19 when he reported his symptoms. His test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 17 May. His serology test result is pending.

Marina Bay Sands Casino Dealer cluster

Detected through surveillance:

Case 63350 is a 34 year-old male Malaysia national who is currently unemployed. He is a household contact of Case 63317¹⁰. He developed a fever and cough on 12 May, and sought medical treatment at a GP clinic on 15 May, where he tested positive for his ART. He was immediately isolated and a PCR test was taken on the same day. His test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 May. His serology test result is pending. He has tested preliminarily positive for the B.1.617 variant, and is pending further confirmatory tests.

Other linked cases

Already quarantined:

Case 63349 is a 36 year-old female Philippines national who is a foreign domestic worker. She is a close contact of Case 63236¹¹ and was placed on quarantine on 14 May. She developed a fever, cough and sore throat on 15 May. She reported her symptoms, and was tested for COVID-19 on the same day. Her test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 16 May. Her serology test result is negative. 

Detected through surveillance:

Case 63363 is a 57 year-old male Singaporean who works as an engineer at 3M Innovation Singapore Pte Ltd. He is a family member and household contact of Case 63357. He developed a fever on 16 May and was tested when he was informed that Case 63357 was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection. An ART and PCR test were taken on the same day, which both came back positive for COVID-19 infection. His serology test result is pending. Case 63363 received his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on 30 April.

b) Cases residing in dormitories: 0

There are no cases residing in dormitories today. 

c) Imported cases: 7

Amongst the 7 imported cases, 

-  2 (Cases 63362 and 63369) are Singaporeans who returned from India and Malaysia.
-  3 (Cases 63358, 63361 and 63364) are Dependant’s Pass holders who arrived from the Philippines and Russia.
-  1 (Case 63355) is a Student's Pass holder who arrived from France.
-  1 (Case 63360) is a Work Permit holder who arrived from Malaysia.

They had 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.

Additional Precautionary Measures at White Sands Shopping Mall

6.     Our epidemiological investigations have found that a few COVID-19 cases had visited White Sands Shopping Mall during their infectious period. As a precautionary measure, we will conduct special testing operations for staff who work in White Sands Shopping Mall. To pre-emptively mitigate any potential risk of wider, undetected community transmission, we will also offer free COVID-19 testing for members of the public who had visited White Sands Shopping Mall from 2 May to 11 May. MOH will progressively inform these individuals via SMS notification with information on how to book an appointment for their test. All visitors to White Sands Shopping Mall from 2 May to 11 May are also advised to monitor their health closely for 14 days from their date of visit. They are strongly encouraged to visit a Regional Screening Centre or “Swab and Send Home” (SASH) Public Health Preparedness Clinic for a free COVID-19 test if they feel unwell. 

Tan Tock Seng Hospital to Resume Admission of Patients

7.     As there have been no new unlinked COVID-19 cases detected in Tan Tock Song Hospital (TTSH) since 28 April, TTSH will gradually resume admission of patients from 18 May, including partial resumption of ambulance services to TTSH, and allowing movement of healthcare workers into and out of the Novena campus to facilitate patient care. The resumption of clinical attachments and training for healthcare students will take place from 31 May. As an additional precaution, all patients transferring from TTSH and other acute hospitals to intermediate and long-term care (ILTC) facilities will be tested for COVID-19 within 48 hours of their scheduled transfer. We advise patients to defer non-urgent visits to TTSH as it reopens its clinical services progressively.

Update on condition of confirmed cases

8.     19 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 61,123 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities. 

9.     There are currently 213 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and 3 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit. 246 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. 31 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection. 


MINISTRY OF HEALTH
17 MAY 2021

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¹ Case 63146 is a 44 year-old male Singaporean who works as a private hire car driver with GoJek, and visited Changi Airport Terminal 3 on 6 May. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 12 May. 

² Case 63146 is a 44 year-old male Singaporean who works as a private hire car driver with GoJek. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 12 May.
³ Case 63291 is a 1 year-old male Singaporean. He is a family member and household contact of Case 63146. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 15 May.

⁴ Case 63141 is a 40 year-old male Singaporean who works as a software engineer at ST Engineering. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 12 May.

⁵ Case 63188 is a 7 year-old male Singaporean who is a student at St Stephen’s School and attended classes at Learning Point. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 13 May.

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