Press Releases
Twelve new cases of COVID-19 infection confirmed
8 March 2020
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As of 8 March 2020, 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified 12 more cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore. Of these:
Nine are part of the cluster involving a private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong (333 Boon Lay Way) on 15 February;
One is linked to a previous case;
One is an imported case; and
One is currently unlinked.
Links between previous cases found
2. Further epidemiological investigations and contact tracing have uncovered links between previously announced and new cases. This was made possible with the assistance of the Singapore Police Force.
a) Seven of the locally transmitted confirmed cases (Cases 31, 33, 38, 83, 90, 91 and 138), as well as Cases 8 and 9, are linked to The Life Church and Missions Singapore. These cases are linked to another 23 confirmed cases (Cases 48, 49, 51, 53, 54, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 63, 66, 67, 68, 70, 71, 73, 74, 78, 80, 81, 84, 88) who are linked to the Grace Assembly of God.
b) Nine of the confirmed cases (Cases 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 27, 28, 34 and 40) are linked to Yong Thai Hang.
c) Three of the confirmed cases (Cases 30, 36 and 39) are linked to the business meeting held at Grand Hyatt Singapore from 20 to 22 January.
d) Five of the confirmed cases (Cases 42, 47, 52, 56 and 69) are linked to the Seletar Aerospace Heights construction site.
e) 14 of the confirmed cases (Cases 93, 95, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 108 and 110) are linked to Wizlearn Technologies Pte Ltd.
f) 30 of the confirmed cases (Cases 94, 96, 107, 112, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 120, 121, 122, 125, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 133, 134, 137, 139, 140, 142, 144, 145, 146, 148, 149 and 150) are linked to a private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong on 15 February.
3. Investigations on these clusters are ongoing. In addition to the clusters, our investigations have identified the following links between cases:
Case 44 is linked to Cases 13 and 26;
Case 72 is linked to Cases 59 and 79;
Case 50 is linked to Cases 55, 65 and 77;
Case 75 is linked to Case 41;
Case 86 is linked to Case 82;
Case 126 is linked to Case 109; and
Case 143 is linked to Case 132.
4. Contact tracing is underway for the other 14 locally transmitted cases to establish any links to previous cases or travel history to affected countries or regions.
About the confirmed cases
Case 139
5. Case 139 is a 71 year-old male Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. He is currently warded in an isolation room at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH). He is a family member of Cases 140 and 142, and is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.
6. He reported onset of symptoms on 3 March and had sought treatment at a general practitioner (GP) clinic on 5 March. He presented at NTFGH on 6 March, and subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 7 March afternoon.
7. Prior to hospital admission, he had mostly stayed at his home at Jurong West Street 81.
Case 140
8. Case 140 is a 62 year-old female Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. She is currently warded in an isolation room at NTFGH. She is a family member of Cases 139 and 142, and is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.
9. She reported onset of symptoms on 28 February and had sought treatment at a GP clinic on 29 February and 5 March. She presented at NTFGH on 6 March, and subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 7 March afternoon.
10. Prior to hospital admission, she had gone to work Landom Distributions Pte Ltd (31 Jurong Port Road). She stays at Jurong West Street 81.
Case 141
11. Case 141 is a 69 year-old male Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. He is currently warded in an isolation room at NTFGH.
12. He reported onset of symptoms on 1 March and had sought treatment at a GP clinic on 3 March and 6 March. He was conveyed in an ambulance to NTFGH on 6 March. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 7 March afternoon.
13. Prior to hospital admission, he had gone to work at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Innovation Centre (71 Nanyang Drive) as a cleaning staff employed by NTU’s cleaning services vendor. He stays at Jurong West Street 64.
Case 142
14. Case 142 is a 26 year-old male Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. He is currently warded in an isolation room at NTFGH. He is a family member of Cases 139 and 140, and is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.
15. He reported onset of symptoms on 5 March, and presented at NTFGH on 6 March. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 7 March afternoon.
16. Prior to hospital admission, he had gone to work at First Page Digital Singapore (144 Robinson Road) and visited The Aperia Mall (12 Kallang Avenue). He stays at Jurong West Street 81.
Case 143
17. Case 143 is a 42 year-old male Singapore Permanent Resident who had been in Thailand from 4 March to 6 March. He is currently warded in an isolation room at National University Hospital (NUH). He is a family member of Case 132[1].
18. He reported onset of symptoms on 5 March while he was in Thailand. He returned to Singapore on 6 March night and went directly to NUH from Changi Airport. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 7 March afternoon.
19. He stays at Tanglin Road.
Case 144
20. Case 144 is a 58 year-old female Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. She is currently warded in an isolation room at NTFGH. She is a contact of Case 140, and is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.
21. She reported onset of symptoms on 3 March and had sought treatment at a GP clinic on the same day, and on 5 March. She presented to NTFGH on 7 March, and subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 7 March afternoon.
22. She is a hairdresser at her home at Jurong West Street 74, and had attended to customers after onset of symptoms.
Case 145
23. Case 145 is a 67 year-old female Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 8 March morning, and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. She is a contact of Cases 107 and 134, and is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.
Case 146
24. Case 146 is a 64 year-old female Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 8 March morning, and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. She is a contact of Case 134, and is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.
Case 147
25. Case 147 is an imported case involving a 64 year-old male Indonesian national who arrived in Singapore on 7 March. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 8 March morning, and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.
Case 148
26. Case 148 is a 67 year-old female Singapore Citizen who had been in Indonesia from 11 February to 14 February. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 8 March morning, and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. She is a contact of Case 107, and is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.
Case 149
27. Case 149 is a 62 year-old male Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 8 March morning, and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. He is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.
Case 150
28. Case 150 is a 53 year-old female Singapore Permanent Resident who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 8 March morning, and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. She is a contact of Cases 115 and 134, and is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.
Case 135 (Announced on 7 March)
29. Case 135 is a 40 year-old male Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. He is currently warded in an isolation room at Singapore General Hospital (SGH).
30. He reported onset of symptoms on 26 February and had sought treatment at two general practitioner (GP) clinics on 3 March and 5 March. He presented at SGH on 5 March. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 6 March afternoon.
31. Prior to hospital admission, he had gone to work at ST Electronics (100 Jurong East Street 21). He stays at Telok Blangah Crescent.
Case 136 (Announced on 7 March)
32. Case 136 is likely to be an imported case involving a 36 year-old male Italian national Singapore Work Pass holder who had recently travelled to the US from 7 February to 22 February, and to Italy from 23 February to 29 February. He is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.
33. He returned to Singapore on 1 March. He reported onset of symptoms on the same day, and presented at Raffles Hospital. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 6 March afternoon.
34. Prior to hospital admission, he had mostly stayed at his home at Tanjong Pagar Road when he was in Singapore.
Case 137 (Announced on 7 March)
35. Case 137 is a 60 year-old male Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. He is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. He is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.
36. He reported onset of symptoms on 5 March. As he had attended the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong on 15 February, he was referred by MOH to NCID on 6 March. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 6 March afternoon.
37. Prior to hospital admission, he had mostly stayed at his home at Jurong West Street 41.
Case 138 (Announced on 7 March)
38. Case 138 is a 26 year-old male Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. He is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. He is a close contact of Case 66 and family member of Cases 83 and 91, and is linked to the cluster at The Life Church and Missions Singapore.
39. As he had been identified as a close contact of previous confirmed cases, he had been quarantined from 15 February to 6 March. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 6 March afternoon.
40. After his quarantine had ended, he had visited SAFRA Punggol (9 Sentul Crescent). He stays at Rivervale Drive.
Update on condition of confirmed cases
41. To date, a total of 90 cases have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospital. Of the 60 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving. Nine are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
Update on contact tracing for confirmed cases
42. Contact tracing for the confirmed cases is ongoing. Once identified, MOH will closely monitor all close contacts. As a precautionary measure, they will be quarantined for 14 days from their last exposure to the patient. In addition, all other identified contacts who have a low risk of being infected will be under active surveillance, and will be contacted daily to monitor their health status.
43. As of 8 March 2020, 12pm, MOH has identified 3,649 close contacts who have been quarantined. Of these, 615 are currently quarantined, and 3,034 have completed their quarantine.
Health advisory
44. Singaporeans are advised to defer all travel to Hubei Province and all non-essential travel to mainland China, Iran, northern Italy, Japan and the Republic of Korea.
45. All travellers should monitor their health closely for two weeks upon return to Singapore and seek medical attention promptly if they feel unwell. Travellers should inform their doctor of their travel history. If they have a fever or respiratory symptoms (e.g. cough, shortness of breath), they should wear a mask and call the clinic ahead of the visit.
46. Travellers and members of the public should adopt the following precautions at all times:
Avoid close contact with people who are unwell or showing symptoms of illness;
Observe good personal hygiene;
Practise frequent hand washing with soap (e.g. before handling food or eating, after going to toilet, or when hands are dirtied by respiratory secretions after coughing or sneezing);
Wear a mask if you have respiratory symptoms such as a cough or shortness of breath;
Cover your mouth with a tissue paper when coughing or sneezing, and dispose the soiled tissue paper in the rubbish bin immediately; and
Seek medical attention promptly if you are feeling unwell.
47. MOH will continue to monitor the situation closely. As medical practitioners are on the lookout for suspect cases, Singapore is likely to see more cases that will need to be investigated.
[1] Case 132 is likely to be an imported case involving a 37 year-old female Singapore Permanent Resident who had been in London from 23 February to 27 February. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 6 March.