Covid-19: 17 cases linked to SAFRA Jurong dinner, some interacted at multiple other gatherings

The SAFRA dinner was a private, social event.

Tanya Ong| March 06, 2020, 08:26 PM

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The Ministry of Health announced 13 new cases of Covid-19 on Mar. 5.

This is the highest number of new cases announced so far.

Out of the new announced cases, nine are linked to the cluster at SAFRA Jurong on Boon Lay Way.

A total of 17 cases are currently linked to this cluster.

SAFRA cluster

On Thursday (Mar. 5), the Ministry of Health announced a new cluster.

On Mar. 5, a total of eight cases were found to be connected to this newly-discovered cluster, through a dinner function held at the Joy Garden Restaurant.

They were: Cases 94, 96, 107, 112, 114, 115, 116 and 117.

On Mar. 6, another nine (Cases 118, 120, 121, 122, 125, 127, 128, 129, 130) were found to be linked to the dinner.

According to SAFRA’s statement, Joy Garden Restaurant had closed for cleaning from Feb. 16 to Feb. 19 following the dinner function as a “hygiene practice”.

SAFRA said that it will continue to monitor the situation closely and take further appropriate actions, where necessary.

Dinner was social event

Vernon Lee, Director of Communicable Diseases at MOH, told the press that not all of the 17 cases attended the dinner.

Some of the confirmed cases linked to the cluster were guests at an event in a private function room, but none of the confirmed cases involve SAFRA Jurong staff, Lee clarified.

The dinner was a social event organised by a couple of individuals for friends and their family members.

Kenneth Mak, Director of Medical Services at MOH explained that it would be rather difficult to ascertain when some of the cases were exposed to the virus.

This is because some members linked to the SAFRA cluster knew each other and interacted at multiple social gatherings.

The total number of cases in Singapore stands at 130.

Currently, 82 have fully recovered. Nine are in critical condition in the ICU.

Top image from SAFRA Jurong's Facebook page