1-year-old boy evacuated from Wuhan on Feb 9 among 2 new coronavirus cases in S’pore

[SINGAPORE] Two more cases of coronavirus infections have been confirmed in Singapore, bringing the total number to 77, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Monday.

One of the new cases is a one-year-old Singaporean boy who was evacuated from Wuhan on a Feb 9 Scoot flight. He had no symptoms when he boarded the flight and was quarantined when he landed.

The baby is the first of 174 Singaporeans and their family members on the flight to test positive for the virus. He is in stable condition.

He tested positive for the virus on Sunday and is currently warded at KK Women's and Children's Hospital.

The other new case is a 35-year-old Singaporean man with no recent travel history to China.

The man is warded at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) and tested positive for the virus on Monday.

He was identified as a contact of case 50, the 62-year-old male DBS Bank employee who was confirmed to have the virus on Feb 12.

Two family members of the DBS employee, a 30-year-old man and a 61-year-old woman, are also linked to this group.

MOH said at a press conference that five more patients have since recovered and were discharged from hospital as of noon on Monday.

The first Singaporean to test positive for the virus was discharged on Sunday afternoon. The 47-year-old woman, who gave her name as Mrs Zhang, is case 15.

She was one of 92 Singaporeans evacuated from Wuhan on the first specially arranged Scoot flight on Jan 30.

Of the 92, five later tested positive for the virus and four have since been discharged. The fifth passenger, Mrs Zhang's 17-year-old son who is case 23, is still in hospital.

To date, 24 of the 77 confirmed cases have recovered.

Of the 53 who are still in hospital, four are in critical condition, down from five on Sunday. The patient who is no longer in critical condition is still warded in hospital.

Case 14 has also been discharged. He is a 31-year-old man from China who holds a Singapore work pass. He arrived from Wuhan on Jan 26 and tested positive on Jan 30.

The first of five patients in a cluster linked to The Life Church and Missions has been discharged. The 53-year-old Singaporean man is case 31.

One of the 18 patients in the Grace Assembly of God cluster has also been discharged. He is case 48, a 34-year-old Singapore man who is an employee of the church.

Case 65, a 61-year-old Singaporean woman who is a family member of the DBS employee, has also been discharged.

There are no new clusters as at Monday or changes to existing clusters, MOH said.

Five clusters of patients were previously identified.

The largest is a group of 18 patients linked to the Grace Assembly of God church, including the church's senior pastor.

Other clusters so far are linked to The Life Church and Missions Singapore, the Yong Thai Hang health products shop, a business meeting held at the Grand Hyatt Singapore and a Seletar Aerospace Heights construction site.

THE STRAITS TIMES