SIA stewardess, who received first vaccine dose, among 11 new cases

A 41-year-old Singapore Airlines (SIA) cabin crew member who was on a turnaround flight to the United Arab Emirates is the fifth person on that aircraft to have tested positive for the coronavirus.

All five have also tested preliminarily positive for the more infectious B117 strain of the coronavirus, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said yesterday.

The stewardess, who is Singaporean, was among 11 coronavirus cases confirmed by MOH yesterday.

The four other passengers, all dependant's pass holders, were confirmed positive for Covid-19 earlier this month. They include a three-year-old girl and a one-year-old boy.

"In view of her recent travel history, and the possibility that she might have been infected on board the flight, we have preliminarily classified this case as imported," said MOH.

Meanwhile, all the identified close contacts of the patient have been isolated and placed on quarantine, it added.

The air stewardess departed Singapore on Jan 30 on the flight to Dubai and returned on Jan 31 without disembarking from the aircraft. She received her first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Feb 2.

Said MOH: "It is possible for one to be infected just before or just after vaccination as it typically takes a few weeks for an individual to build up immunity after completing vaccination."

She developed anosmia - loss of the sense of smell - on Feb 4, but did not seek medical attention, said MOH. On Sunday, she was tested for Covid-19 as part of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore's requirements.

Her pooled test came back positive for the virus on Monday, and she was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases for an individual swab and isolated. The later test came back positive.

The remaining 10 imported cases tested positive while serving stay-home notices on arrival in Singapore, said MOH. - THE STRAITS TIMES

By the numbers

11 New cases

29 Deaths

0 New cases in community

22 Discharged yesterday

11 Imported cases

40 In hospital

59732 Total cases

59491 Total recovered