For the last few weeks or so, good news has been like a McSpicy that’s easy to digest: non-existent.
The number of COVID-19 community cases has hovered around the same figure – 25 to 30 – and clusters have formed faster than K-pop boybands.
Yesterday, however, we were given a glimpse of a light at the end of the tunnel: 14 community cases were reported, the lowest figure since 12 May.
Unfortunately, two new clusters were identified. Here are the details:
Hong Ye Group Cleaners Cluster
The cluster which started with cleaners at Hong Ye Group – a recently-formed cluster – continues to grow as three more infections were linked to it yesterday.
They are:
- a 25-year-old male Singaporean who is employed by Hong Ye Group Pte Ltd as a cleaner at Changi Business Park
- a 58-year-old male Singaporean who is employed by Hong Ye Group Pte Ltd as a cleaner at Changi Business Park
- a 56-year-old female Singaporean who is employed by Hong Ye Group Pte Ltd as a cleaner at Changi Business Park
The 25-year-old is a workplace contact and household contact of two previous cases and was placed on quarantine on 21 May.
He is asymptomatic and was detected when he was tested for COVID-19 on 26 May during quarantine. His test result came back positive the next day.
His serology test result is negative.
The cluster now has a total of six cases.
Unlinked Cases Includes a GovTech Employee
Two of the 14 community cases reported yesterday had no known links. They are:
- a 43-year-old female Singaporean who works at GovTech and was last at work on 7 May
- a 67-year-old male Singaporean who is a retiree
The GovTech employee developed a cough and runny nose on 25 May and sought medical treatment on the same day.
He underwent both an ART and PCR test on 26 May, both of which came back positive. His serology test result is negative.
Tektronix Cluster
The first new cluster is linked to Tektronix Southeast Asia Pte Ltd. The latest case in the cluster is a 43-year-old male Singapore Permanent Resident who works there and is a workplace contact of two previous cases.
He was placed on quarantine on 25 May after being identified as close contact and developed a fever, cough, and sore throat on the same day.
He was tested for COVID-19 and his result came back positive on the same day. His serology test result is pending.
There are three cases in this cluster, all of whom work at the company.
Case 63446 & Case 63708 Cluster
Another new cluster is linked to a 28-year-old Singaporean engineer who works at the engineering firm Patec (Case 63446). He tested positive on 18 May.
The latest addition to the cluster is a 55-year-old male Singaporean who works as a dispatch rider at MV Credit Pte Ltd.
He is a family member and household contact of the previous case and was placed on quarantine on 18 May.
He was tested for COVID-19 on 21 May and his test result came back negative.
He then developed a fever on 25 May but did not report his symptom. His fever persisted and he was conveyed the next day to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, where he was tested for COVID-19.
This time, he was confirmed to be COVID-19 positive. His serology test result is negative.
There are three cases in this new cluster.
There is also another case linked to the Case 63708 cluster. Case 63708 is a 15-year-old male Singaporean who is a student at Westwood Secondary School and was confirmed to be COVID-19 positive on 24 May.
The latest case is a 53-year-old male Singaporean who works as a driver at Kim Transport and a part-time private hire car driver with Grab.
He is a family member and household contact of two previous cases.
Changi Prison Complex Cluster
Another inmate at Changi Prison Complex has tested positive for COVID-19 after several negative tests.
He is a 61-year-old Singaporean who was placed on 13 May after being identified as close contact of a previous case.
He is asymptomatic and was negative when tested on 13 May, 17 May, 19 May, 21 May and 23 May.
He was then tested a sixth time on 25 May and this time, his test result came back positive.
His serology test result is pending.
The man received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on 30 March and the second dose on 20 April.
Pacific Law Corporation Cluster
Another cluster with three new additions is the one at Pacific Law Corporation. The new cases are:
- a 76-year-old male Singaporean who is employed by Clean Solutions Pte Ltd as a cleaner at Henry Park Primary School
- a 43-year-old male Singaporean who works as a retail assistant at Alpha Audio Pte Ltd
- a 74-year-old female Singaporean who is a homemaker
Other Cases with Established Links
Besides infections linked to clusters, there were two other cases with established links to previous cases, namely:
- a 55-year-old male Singaporean who works as a freelance handyman
- a 50-year-old male Singaporean who works at Assalaamu’alaikum Enterprise Pte Ltd
1 Dormitory Case
The sole dormitory case is a 42-year-old male Bangladesh national who is employed by Teng Feng Engineering Pte Ltd.
Interestingly, he works at Harvest @ Woodlands – where a cluster has formed – but has no established links to the cluster as he hadn’t interacted with previous cases who reside there.
As of now, his infection is unlinked.
He is asymptomatic, and was detected when he was tested on 23 May as part of Rostered Routine Testing (RRT). His pooled test result came back positive for COVID-19 on 24 May and he was immediately isolated.
A subsequent individual test confirmed the result.
His serology test result is negative for the N antigen, which suggests the presence of early infection. The 42-year-old received his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine on 14 May.
9 Imported Cases
In addition to the 15 locally transmitted cases, 9 imported infections were reported.
They are:
- 5 Singaporeans and 2 Singapore Permanent Residents who returned from India
- 1 Short-Term Visit Pass holder who arrived from Indonesia to visit her family member who is a Singaporean
- 1 Special Pass holder who is a sea crew member
All 9 cases had been placed on stay-home notice upon arrival in Singapore.
245 Cases in Hospitals
At the moment, there are 245 confirmed cases still in hospitals, of whom most are stable or improving. Two are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
Another 291 with mild symptoms and lower risk factors are isolated and cared for at community facilities.
12 more cases have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities recently.
Featured Image: kandl stock / Shutterstock.com
