Third new Covid cluster detected as community cases rise
The number of new cases in the community has increased from four in the week before to 18 in the past week, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in a statement last night.
It also reported the third new local coronavirus cluster discovered in recent weeks, after three of the four community cases were linked to a previous case.
The three cases were linked to case 59429, a 39-year-old permanent resident who works in sales at BS Industrial and Construction Supply. He tested positive for the virus on Jan 18.
All of them are his co-workers, and MOH says that investigations are ongoing to assess if there was a breach of safe management measures at their workplace.
Two of the three did not seek medical attention after developing symptoms.
The first linked case is a 27-year-old Malaysian work pass holder who works in sales at BS Industrial and Construction Supply.
He developed a sore throat on Jan 14 but did not seek treatment and continued to go to work.
He was contacted by MOH on Jan 18 after being identified as a close contact of the original case and subsequently tested positive on Jan 19.
The second case is a 29-year-old Malaysian who is also a work pass holder and works in sales at the same company.
She developed a sore throat and had difficulty breathing on Jan 16 but continued to go to work as well as interacted with the community, said MOH.
The woman also tested positive after being identified as a close contact of the original case.
The final linked case is a 28-year-old Malaysian who is also a work pass holder and works in finance in the same company.
She developed a cough on Jan 19 on the day she was placed in quarantine. She later tested positive for the infection.
The fourth community case was unlinked to this cluster - a 46-year-old Indian national who is a work pass holder working as a software engineer at Apar Technologies in Shenton Way.
He is asymptomatic, and his infection was detected when he took a pre-departure test on Jan 19 in preparation for a trip back to India. - THE STRAITS TIMES
By the numbers
40
New cases
4
New cases in community
36
Imported cases
59,197
Total cases
29
Deaths
32
Discharged yesterday
45
In hospital
58,911
Total recovered
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