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(Editor’s note: A previous version of this article’s headline said that visitors would not be allowed into CGH's inpatient wards. We have since corrected the headline to reflect that only visitors of patients who are isolated after being identified as contacts of Covid-19 cases will not be allowed. We have also updated the article with further clarification on CGH's visitation guideline. We apologise for the error in the headline.)

On Saturday (Jun. 26), two more porters at Changi General Hospital (CGH) were confirmed to have Covid-19, bringing the number of cases linked to the cluster at the hospital to five, in addition to one unlinked case of a CGH nurse.

The hospital announced on Saturday night that visitors may not be allowed into some of Changi General Hospital's (CGH) wards until further notice, if a patient is identified as a contact and isolated.

5 porters & 1 nurse test positive

As of Jun. 26, five cases have been linked to the Changi General Hospital cluster, with the first case being a 35-year-old asymptomatic Singaporean man who works as a porter at the hospital.

He was tested for Covid-19 on Jun. 22 as part of Rostered Routine Testing (RRT), and was found to have been preliminary positive for the Delta variant on Jun. 23.

Four of his workplace contacts, who also work as porters at CGH, subsequently tested positive in the two days following.

All but one of the porters had already been fully-vaccinated, while one had received his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine on Jun. 11.

In addition, on Jun. 26, the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced that a fully-vaccinated CGH nurse had also tested positive for Covid-19. She was not linked to the CGH cluster, and instead was labelled as an unlinked case.

In a Facebook post at 12:02am on Sunday (Jun. 27), CGH stated that the two porters announced to be positive for Covid-19 on Jun. 26 were last at work on the morning of Jun. 22 and Jun. 23, and that the nurse was last at work on Jun. 23.

"Our colleagues had adhered to precautionary measures such as wearing appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during their work," the hospital wrote.

Patients may be isolated after being identified as contacts of Covid-19 cases

CGH added that the hospital's infection control protocols have been activated, and that terminal cleaning has been carried out at the affected areas.

"Through our proactive efforts, the hospital was able to detect these cases quickly to provide care and support to our colleagues, and minimise the risk of infection."

Contact tracing is ongoing, as well as surveillance swab tests. In addition, focused enhanced surveillance swabs have been conducted for relevant staff in CGH.

According to the Facebook post, staff who have been in close contact have been placed on quarantine orders or on leave of absence, pending further investigations.

In addition, the hospital is conducting additional surveillance swab tests for inpatients, and has escalated clinical surveillance of all inpatients who may develop fever or acute respiratory infection (ARI) symptoms.

CGH said in the Facebook post that:

"As a precautionary measure, patients may be isolated to continue their recuperation. Visitors will not be allowed in these wards until further notice."

CGH did not state which wards will be affected by this precautionary measure.

1 pre-registered visitor allowed

In an email, CGH clarified that the visitation guidelines for their general wards remain the same: patients are allowed one pre-registered visitor for the duration of their admission, and the visitor may visit once per day.

Patients may also continue to come for their outpatient appointments at CGH.

Visitors must observe safe management measures, including wearing a surgical mask at all times, and minimising interactions with other patients or visitors at the hospital.

"Only patients identified as contacts may be placed in isolation to continue their recuperation, and will not be able to receive visitors," the hospital stated.

Updates on visitation guidelines are available on the CGH website.

"We remain on heightened alert to ensure the care, safety and well-being of our patients, visitors and colleagues."

Top photos via Google Maps / Gregory Athanasius.