The Ministry of Health (MOH) announced three more confirmed cases of coronavirus (nCoV) on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases in Singapore to 43.

Case 41

Case 41 is a 71-year-old male Singapore Citizen with no recent travel history to China.

He is currently warded in an isolation room at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).

He reported onset of symptoms on Feb. 1, and had visited a general practitioner (GP) clinic on the same day, and again on Feb. 5.

He sought treatment at Hougang Polyclinic on Feb. 6, and at Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s emergency department on Feb. 7 where he was immediately isolated.

Subsequent test results confirmed nCoV infection on Feb. 8 afternoon.

Prior to hospital admission, he had visited Paya Lebar Methodist Church (5 Boundary Road), and a gathering at Braddell Heights Residents’ Committee.

He had also picked up his grandchild outside Pat’s Schoolhouse Kovan (755 Upper Serangoon Road).

He stays at Upper Serangoon Road.

Case 42

Case 42 is a 39-year-old male Bangladesh national who is a Singapore Work Pass holder, and has no recent travel history to China.

He is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.

He reported onset of symptoms on Feb. 1, and had sought treatment at a GP clinic on Feb. 3, and at Changi General Hospital (CGH) on Feb. 5.

He went for a follow-up appointment at Bedok Polyclinic on Feb. 7, and was thereafter admitted to the intensive care unit at CGH.

Subsequent test results confirmed nCoV infection on Feb. 8 afternoon, and he was transferred to NCID.

Prior to hospital admission, he had visited Mustafa Centre (145 Syed Alwi Road), and stayed at The Leo dormitory (25 Kaki Bukit Road).

Case 43

Case 43 is a 54 year-old male Singapore Citizen with no recent travel history to China.

He was in Malaysia on Jan. 26. He is currently warded in an isolation room at Sengkang General Hospital (SKH).

He reported onset of symptoms on Jan. 30, and had visited two GP clinics on Jan. 30, Feb. 5 and Feb. 6.

He sought treatment at SKH on Feb. 6, and was warded in an isolation room on Feb. 7.

Subsequent test results confirmed nCoV infection on 8 February night.

Prior to hospital admission, he had stayed at home, except for trips to seek medical treatment and once to work at Resorts World Sentosa.

He lives at Fernvale Close.

Contact tracing underway

Contact tracing of the new cases is underway.

Of the 22 locally transmitted cases, epidemiological investigations and contact tracing have uncovered links between 15 of the cases with the three currently known clusters.

Contact tracing is underway for the other seven locally transmitted cases, including those confirmed today, to establish if they are linked to previous cases or persons with travel history to mainland China.

Three known clusters

MOH, with the help of the Singapore Police Force, has identified three known clusters:

1. The Life Church and Missions Singapore (Cases 8, 9, 31, 33 and 38)
2. Yong Thai Hang (Cases 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 27, 28, 34 and 40)
3. Private business meeting held at Grand Hyatt Singapore from Jan. 20 to 22 (Cases 30, 36 and 39)

Update on condition of confirmed cases

Of the remaining 37 who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving.

Six are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

As of Feb. 9, 12pm, 516 of the suspect cases have tested negative for nCoV, and 43 have tested positive. Test results for the remaining 98 cases are pending.

Update on contact tracing for confirmed cases

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.

As of Feb. 9, 12pm, MOH has identified 989 close contacts.

Of the 892 who are still in Singapore, 845 have been contacted and are being quarantined or isolated.

Efforts are ongoing to contact the remaining 47 close contacts.

Top image via Gospel Mission To The Blind website & Fabio Achilli/Flickr