The Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed 23 new cases of Covid-19 in Singapore on Wednesday (Apr. 28).
This brings the total number of cases to 61,086.
Three community cases
There are three new cases of locally transmitted that are currently unlinked.
First
Case 62517 is a 38-year-old male Singaporean who works as an Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) Officer deployed at Changi Airport Terminal 1, but had not gone to work after onset of symptoms.
He developed a cough on Apr. 23 and sought medical treatment the next day at a General Practitioner clinic, where he was given two days’ medical leave.
On Apr. 26, he developed a fever, anosmia and body aches, and sought medical treatment at Tan Tock Seng Hospital the next day.
He was tested for Covid-19 and his test came back positive on the same day. His previous tests, the last being on Apr. 22, were all negative for Covid-19 infection. His serology test result is pending.
Second
Case 62526 is a 58-year-old male Singaporean who works as a construction project manager in Nepal, and had been in there from Feb. 13 to Dec. 13, 2020.
Upon his return to Singapore, he served SHN at a dedicated facility until Dec. 27. His test taken on Dec. 23 during SHN was negative for Covid-19.
He is asymptomatic, and was detected when he took a Covid-19 predeparture test on Apr. 26 in preparation for his trip back to Nepal.
His test result came back positive the next day, and he was conveyed to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) in an ambulance. His serology test result is pending.
His Ct value was very high, which is indicative of a low viral load. According to MOH, the patient is likely shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA from a past infection which are no longer transmissible and infective to others.
The ministry will nonetheless take all the necessary public health actions as a precautionary measure, given that they are not able to definitively conclude when the patient had been infected.
Third
Case 62541 is a 46-year-old female Philippines national who is a nurse at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), and is deployed at Ward 9D, a general ward.
She developed a cough, sore throat and body aches on Apr. 27, and sought medical treatment at TTSH.
Her test result came back positive for Covid-19 infection on the same day, and she was warded at NCID. Her serology test result is pending.
Case 62541 received her first dose of Covid-19 vaccine on Jan. 26, and the second dose on Feb. 18.
According to MOH, the Covid-19 vaccine is effective in preventing symptomatic disease for the vast majority of those vaccinated, but it is possible for vaccinated individuals to get infected.
Following the detection of Case 62541, TTSH has locked down the affected ward, and tested the patients and staff who had been in the ward.
So far, MOH has detected four more cases who have tested preliminarily positive for Covid-19 infection.
These include a doctor, and three patients who are being cared for in the same ward.
As a precautionary measure, all staff who treated the infected patients, as well as all visitors, patients and staff working in Ward 9D will be placed on quarantine.
Epidemiological investigations and contact tracing are ongoing. As MOH is conducting further testing for these four cases, they have not been included in today’s case count.
20 imported cases
There are 20 imported cases reported today.
Two (Cases 62514 and 62532) are Singaporeans and one (Case 62545) is a Singapore Permanent Resident who returned from India and the UAE.
One Case 62539) is a Dependant’s Pass holder who arrived from Nepal.
Five (Cases 62515, 62525, 62527, 62544 and 62551) are Work Pass holders who arrived from India, Japan, the Maldives, Nepal and Uzbekistan.
Six are Work Permit holders who arrived from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Mexico and the Philippines, of whom two (Cases 62516 and 62529) are foreign domestic workers.
Four (Cases 62520, 62521, 62524 and 62528) are Short-Term Visit Pass holders. Cases 62520, 62521 and 62524 arrived from India to visit their family members who are Singaporeans or Singapore Permanent Residents. Case 62528 arrived from the Philippines for a work project in Singapore.
One (Case 62523) is a Special Pass holder who is a sea crew. He arrived from Indonesia on a vessel and was tested onboard without disembarking.
They had all already been placed on SHN or isolated upon arrival in Singapore and were tested while serving SHN or during isolation.
14 more cases discharged
14 more cases of Covid-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities.
In all, 60,718 have fully recovered from the infection and four have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.
There are currently 112 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and none is in the intensive care unit.
226 are isolated and cared for at community facilities. These are those who have mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for Covid-19.
30 have passed away from complications due to Covid-19 infection.
New locations
MOH regularly updates a list of public places visited by confirmed cases for more than 30 minutes during their infectious period.
There are six new locations reported today:
This is the full list of locations visited by confirmed cases within the last two weeks:
Top photo by Alan Lin/Google Maps