Three out of 394 persons serving Stay-Home Notice (SHN) at Mandarin Orchard have tested positive for Covid-19, the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced on Sunday, Dec. 20.
Three cases are likely to be imported: MOH
They were immediately conveyed to the hospital via ambulance, MOH said.
MOH further explained that as they have recent travel history, it is likely that these are imported cases and have been included in the case count for Sunday, Dec. 20.
The National Public Health Laboratory will conduct whole genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis to determine if they could be linked to the 13 cases.
It takes about four weeks to culture the virus and complete the genome sequencing, MOH added.
The 13 cases, who served their SHN at Mandarin Orchard between Oct. 22 and Nov. 11, were previously thought to be imported cases from other countries.
However, similarities have been found between the cases despite them arriving from different countries, which prompted the investigation.
3 staffers likely to have past infections
MOH added that it has tested 158 staff of Mandarin Orchard Singapore so far, and all the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
test results have come back negative for Covid-19.
However, the serological tests of three staff members have come back positive, indicating likely past infections, the ministry said.
Epidemiological investigations of these cases are in progress.
No new guests since Dec. 19
Previously on Dec. 19, MOH announced that it is investigating 13 cases of Covid-19 infection amongst individuals who had served SHN at Mandarin Orchard Singapore between Oct. 22 and Nov. 11.
As a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of all guests, the hotel has stopped accepting new guests since Dec. 19, and is checking out existing guests progressively.
Individuals serving SHN at Mandarin Orchard Singapore have been transported via dedicated vehicles to an alternative SHN dedicated facility.
Totally unrelated but follow and listen to our podcast here
Top image via Google Maps