12 Covid cases on Scoot flight to Tianjin no longer infectious: MOH

OUT of the 14 people on a Scoot flight to northern China who tested positive for the novel coronavirus, 12 are workers who have recovered, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a press statement on Tuesday night.

The 12 individuals, who lived in migrant worker dormitories, "may continue to shed viral fragments for weeks or even months after infection, which may lead to positive polymerase chain reaction test results", according to the ministry.

"However, there is no evidence to suggest that these remnant viral fragments are infectious, and studies so far have failed to culture viable virus from these patient samples, indicating that these individuals are no longer infectious and are thus safe for travel," it added.

The 14 travellers arrived in Tianjin on Aug 19 on Scoot flight TR138. Last week, an article on Chinese social media Weixin stated that they were all asymptomatic and had body temperatures of about 36.3-36.5 degrees Celsius recorded on arrival.

Singapore is in contact with the Chinese authorities for further information on the remaining two cases, and investigations are ongoing, MOH said on Tuesday.

The TR138 Singapore-Tianjin route has been suspended as it triggered the "circuit breaker" by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, Bloomberg reported this week, citing a person familiar with the matter. This "circuit breaker" takes effect for routes that have passengers on board who test positive - the suspension lasts a week if five people test positive, but extends to at least one month if 10 or more infections are found.

The Business Times has reached out to Scoot for comment.

In its statement on Tuesday, MOH noted the "robust" discharge process for Covid-19 patients in Singapore.

Those assessed to be clinically well on the 21st day of illness are discharged, based on the latest clinical and scientific evidence which shows that viable virus was not found in Covid-19 patients after the second week of illness.

Singapore's discharge criteria are more stringent than the World Health Organization's (WHO) guidelines, the ministry added.

WHO's recommended criteria for discharging symptomatic patients from isolation without requiring retesting is 10 days after symptom onset, with at least three additional days without symptoms. To discharge asymptomatic patients, only 10 days of isolation are needed after the first positive test, based on WHO guidelines.

MOH said that Singapore's discharge criteria have been shared with the Chinese authorities.

Singapore and China launched a fast-lane agreement on June 8, under which travellers do not have to serve a two-week quarantine, although they must take swab tests at their own cost.

Starting Aug 28, those travelling from Singapore to China will be required to take a Covid-19 test within five days before their flight, according to details of requirements announced by the Chinese Embassy last week.

This test was also the subject of a mass e-mail meant for passengers on Scoot flight TR100 from Singapore to Guangzhou on Aug 30 but was mistakenly sent on Tuesday to other customers who are not on the flight.

In an updated statement late Tuesday night, the carrier said the erroneous e-mail was sent due to human error, and was not a data security or hacking incident.

"We have established that no new booking was created. There was also no leak of sensitive personal information; the personal information that was included in the erroneous e-mail was limited to first name and booking confirmation ID," said Singapore Airlines' budget arm.

The erroneous e-mail was sent to the e-mail address associated with the customers' previous bookings with Scoot. The airline added that no third party received an e-mail with the customers' personal details.

It will conduct an internal review looking into how to further strengthen its internal processes, Scoot said, apologising to all affected customers.

Scoot has informed Singapore's Personal Data Protection Commission of the incident.