Follow us on Telegram for the latest updates: https://t.me/mothershipsg

A total of three more people in Singapore have tested preliminarily positive for the Omicron Covid-19 variant, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Dec. 15.

One is a local case, another is an imported case, and the third is a close contact of the imported case.

All three cases are fully vaccinated and have mild or no symptoms.

They are recovering in isolation wards at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).

MOH said it is ringfencing the cases through contact tracing.

1. Local case

The local case, Case 279330, is a 54-year-old man who works as a loading cabin assistant at Changi Airport Terminal 3.

He had no contact with flight passengers.

He was tested on Dec. 14 for Covid-19 as part of rostered routine testing, and his polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test result came back positive.

He had been placed on a daily antigen rapid testing (ART) regime since Dec. 10, and his test results up to Dec. 13 were all negative.

2. Imported case

The imported case, Case 278256, is a 36-year-old man who travelled to Singapore from the United States via the vaccinated travel lane.

His pre-departure test in the US on Dec. 6, as well as his on-arrival PCR test on Dec. 8 were negative for Covid-19 infection.

But he tested positive for Covid-19 infection for his supervised ART on Dec. 10, and his PCR test result also came back positive on Dec. 11.

3. Close contact of imported case

The third new case, Case 279395, reported on Dec. 15, is the wife of Case 278256.

The 34-year-old woman had no recent travel history.

She was placed on quarantine on Dec. 14, and tested positive for Covid-19 infection on the same day.

Before that, she was working from home.

Couple dined at 4 Orchard restaurants

The couple dined at four restaurants on Dec. 8 and Dec. 9.

Dec. 8:

- Mizuki at Ngee Ann City,

- Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant at Sheraton Towers Singapore

- Merci Marcel at Palais Renaissance

Dec. 9:

- Signs A Taste Of Vietnam Pho at Orchard Gateway

Health risk warnings to be issued

MOH said: “All customer-facing restaurant staff, as well as patrons with SafeEntry check-in/ out timings that coincided with the time that the cases were at the restaurants, will be issued health risk warnings by MOH.”

A one-time targeted PCR testing operation will also be conducted for these individuals, whom MOH will contact.

MOH added: “All visitors to the affected premises are advised to monitor their health closely, and minimise social interactions as far as possible, for 14 days from their date of visit or interaction. They are encouraged to see a doctor immediately if they feel unwell.”

The National Public Health Laboratory is conducting whole genome sequencing for the three cases to confirm the variant, MOH said.

10-day quarantine for those identified as close contacts

Those identified as close contacts of the cases will be placed on 10-day quarantine at designated facilities.

They will have to undergo PCR tests at the start and end of their quarantine.

Background

As of Dec. 15, Singapore has 16 confirmed Omicron variant Covid-19 cases.

There are 14 imported cases and two local cases, who are airport passenger service staff.

Singapore had 474 new Covid-19 cases and three fatalities as of noon on Dec. 15.

Follow and listen to our podcast here