Changi Airport cluster grows to 26, unlinked case is nurse at Sengkang General Hospital

15 new locations were added to MOH's list of places visited by confirmed cases.

Nigel Chua | May 13, 2021, 12:36 AM

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The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed 16 new cases of Covid-19 infection on May 12.

This brings the total number of cases to 61,419.

There are 10 cases in the community today, including one unlinked case.

There are also six imported cases.

One unlinked community case

Case 63096

Case 63096 is a 33 year-old male Philippines national who works as an operating theatre nurse at Sengkang General Hospital.

He developed a runny nose on the night of May 9, and cough the next night, and subsequently fever, sore throat, shortness of breath and loss of taste on May 11.

He was tested for Covid-19 on May 10 as part of Sengkang General Hospital’s proactive testing of staff and his test result came back positive for Covid-19 infection on May 11. His serology test result is positive.

He received his first dose of Covid-19 vaccine on Jan. 19, and the second dose on Feb. 8. He has tested preliminarily positive for the B1617 variant, and is pending further confirmatory tests.

Nine linked cases

Nine of the 10 community cases are linked to previous cases.

Cases 63092 and 63104 are linked to the Case 62969 cluster and the Case 62541 cluster respectively.

The other seven are linked to the Case 62873 cluster, which includes several cases who worked at Changi Airport.

Case 63092

Case 63092 is a 36 year-old female Vietnam national who is a Short-Term Visit Pass holder. She is a household contact of Cases 62969 and 63083.

She arrived from Vietnam on Apr. 12, and served SHN at a dedicated facility until Apr 26. Her pre-departure test taken in Vietnam on Apr. 10 was negative for Covid-19 infection, as was a test taken during SHN on Apr. 25.

As she had been identified as a close contact of Case 62969, she was placed on quarantine on May 8, and tested for COVID-19 on May 10 during quarantine. Her test result came back positive for Covid-19 infection the next day. Her serology test result is negative.

Case 63104

Case 63104 is a 64 year-old female Singaporean who had been warded in Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) Ward 9D from Apr. 26, and was transferred to NCID on Apr. 28. As she had been identified as a close contact of Case 62541, she was placed on quarantine on Apr. 29.

She was tested for Covid-19 on Apr. 26, Apr. 28 and Apr. 30, and the results were negative. She was discharged on May 2 and continued to be on quarantine.

She was tested for Covid-19 on May 11 during quarantine. Her test result came back positive on the same day. Her serology test result is negative for the N antigen, which suggests the presence of early infection.

Case 62873 cluster

There are seven new cases linked to the Case 62873 cluster, which includes several cases who worked at Changi Airport.

There is also an additional case linked to the cluster, Case 63005, who was previously reported as an unlinked case on May 9.

Including these seven, as well as Case 63005, the cluster now has 26 cases.

Case 63091

Case 63091 is a 24 year-old male Singaporean who is employed by Huawei Enterprise as an IT engineer and works at Changi Airport Terminal 4. He had been at Changi Airport Terminal 3 on Apr. 28 and May 3.

He had not gone to work after onset of symptoms.

He developed a fever on May 7, which subsided on the same day with self-medication. The next day, his fever returned at night and resolved with self-medication again.

On May 9, he sought medical treatment at a General Practitioner (GP) clinic and was diagnosed with tonsilitis. He developed a fever later on the same day, and sought treatment at another GP clinic that evening where he was tested for Covid-19. His test result came back positive on May 11. His serology test result is pending.

Case 63094

Case 63094 is a 39 year-old male Singaporean who works as an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer at Changi Airport Terminal 3.

He is asymptomatic, and was detected when he was tested on 9 May as part of Rostered Routine Testing (RRT). His pooled test result came back positive for Covid-19 the next day. He was conveyed to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) on 10 May, and an individual test was done. His test result came back positive for Covid-19 infection on 11 May.

His earlier tests from RRT – the last being on Apr. 12 – were all negative for Covid-19 infection. His serology test result is negative for the N antigen, which suggests the presence of early infection. Case 63094 received his first dose of Covid-19 vaccine on Jan. 17, and the second dose on Feb. 7. He has tested preliminarily positive for the B1617 variant, and is pending further confirmatory tests.

Case 63095

Case 63095 is a 38 year-old female Singaporean who works as an ICA officer at Changi Airport Terminal 3.

She was detected when she was tested on May 9 as part of RRT. Her pooled test result came back positive for Covid-19 the next day and she was conveyed to NCID on May 10, where an individual test was done. Her test result came back positive for Covid-19 infection on May 11. On the same day, she developed a runny nose. Her earlier tests from RRT – the last being on Apr. 15 – were all negative for Covid-19 infection. Her serology test result is negative for the N antigen, which suggests the presence of early infection. Case 63095 received her first dose of Covid-19 vaccine on Jan. 30, and the second dose on Feb. 20. She has tested preliminarily positive for the B1617 variant, and is pending further confirmatory tests.

Case 63097

Case 63097 is a 62 year-old male Singaporean who is employed by Ramky Cleantech Services Pte Ltd as a cleaner and trolley handler at Changi Airport Terminal 3.

As he had been identified as a contact of Case 62940, he was placed on quarantine on May 8. On May 9, he developed a runny nose during quarantine, and was tested for COVID-19 the next day. His test result came back positive on May 11. His serology test result is pending.

Case 63097 received his first dose of Covid-19 vaccine on Jan. 22, and the second dose on Feb. 14.

Case 63098

Case 63098 is a 28 year-old male Singaporean who is employed by Certis Cisco as an aviation security officer at Changi Airport Terminal 3. He had not gone to work after onset of symptoms.

He developed a fever, sore throat and body aches on May 7 and sought medical treatment at a polyclinic the next day where he was tested for Covid-19. His result came back positive for Covid-19 infection on May. 11.

His earlier tests from RRT – the last being on May 3 — were all negative for Covid-19 infection. His serological test result is pending.

Case 63100

Case 63100 is a 65 year-old male Singaporean who is employed by Ramky Cleantech Services Pte Ltd as a cleaner at Changi Airport Terminal 3.

He developed a runny nose on 6 May but did not seek medical treatment. As he had been identified as a close contact of Case 62873, he was placed on quarantine on May 9 but did not report his symptom. He was tested for Covid-19 on May 11 during quarantine. On the same day, he developed a headache and runny nose. His test result came back positive on May. 11. His serology test result is negative. Case 63100 received his first dose of Covid-19 vaccine on Jan. 25, and the second dose on Feb. 18.

He has tested preliminarily positive for the B1617 variant, and is pending further confirmatory tests.

Case 63109

Case 63109 is a 42 year-old male Singaporean who works as a sales associate at a retail store at Changi Airport Terminal 3.

He developed a cough and itchy throat on May 9 while at work and sought medical treatment at a GP clinic the next day. He was given five days’ medical leave, and tested for Covid-19 the next day. His test result came back positive on May 12. His earlier tests from RRT – the last being on Apr. 14 – were all negative for Covid-19 infection. His serology test result is pending.

Case 63109 received his first dose of Covid-19 vaccine on Feb. 28, and the second dose on Mar. 21.

One previous case linked to the Case 62873 cluster

MOH also announced that epidemiological investigations have found that Case 63005 is linked to the Case 62873 cluster. He had been at Changi Airport Terminal 3 on May 3 and May 4, and had visited the same locations as Cases 62940 and 62942 during their infectious period.

He was likely to have been infected while he was at Changi Airport Terminal 3.

This brings the number of cases in the Case 62873 cluster to 26.

Measures at Changi Airport

To pre-emptively mitigate any potential risk of wider, undetected community transmission, MOH said that it will offer free Covid-19 testing for members of the public who had visited Changi Airport Terminal 3 from May 3 onwards.

MOH will progressively inform these individuals via SMS notification with information on how to book an appointment for their test.

All visitors to Changi Airport Terminal 1 and Jewel from May 3 onwards are also advised to monitor their health closely for 14 days from their date of visit.

They are strongly encouraged to visit a Regional Screening Centre or “Swab and Send Home” (SASH) Public Health Preparedness Clinic for a free Covid-19 test if they feel unwell.

Additionally, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and Changi Airport Group (CAG) said in a joint release on May 12 that Changi Airport will close its passenger terminal buildings, as well as Jewel Changi Airport, to members of the public for 14 days from May 13 to 26.

Six imported cases

The six imported cases include one Singaporean and one Permanent Resident who returned from India.

Three are Work Pass holders who arrived from Malaysia, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka.

The remaining case is a Work Permit holder who arrived from the Philippines and is a foreign domestic worker.

15 new locations

MOH regularly updates a list of public places visited by confirmed Covid-19 cases for more than 30 minutes when they were infectious.

A total of 15 new locations were added to the list on May 12.

The new locations include eateries and malls:

  1. Cold Storage in West Mall (1 Bukit Batok Central Link) on Apr. 30
  2. TANGS and Haidilao Hotpot at VivoCity on May 1
  3. Hougang Mall on May 7
  4. Fengshan Market & Food Centre (85 Bedok North Street 4) on May 8
  5. Al-Azhar Restaurant (11 Cheong Chin Nam Road) on May 9

Here is the full list of locations visited by cases in the community during their infectious period in the past 14 days, as of May 12 (new additions to the list highlighted in yellow):

31 cases discharged

31 additional cases of Covid-19 infection have been discharged.

In all, 61,006 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.

There are currently 143 confirmed cases who are still in hospitals, with three cases in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

239 are isolated and cared for at community facilities.

A total of 31 patients have passed away from complications due to Covid-19 infection.

Top image via Changi Airport on Facebook.