Korean man among two new unlinked Covid-19 community cases

[SINGAPORE] A 24-year-old Korean man who works at a restaurant in Crowne Plaza Changi Airport was among the two unlinked community cases announced on Wednesday (Jan 6).

The work permit holder has also tested preliminarily positive for the more infectious UK strain of Covid-19 - the mutant B117 strain - and is pending further confirmatory tests.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said the man, who works at the Azur restaurant, delivered pre-packed meals to air crew and hotel guests.

He did not interact with diners at the restaurant, the ministry added.

The man tested positive for a pooled swab during rostered routine testing on Jan 2, and was tested again on Monday.

On the same day, he started to develop acute respiratory infection symptoms.

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His individual test result was positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday, and he was brought to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) in an ambulance.

His serological test result has come back negative, indicating that this is likely a current infection.

The other community case is a 31-year-old Filipino work permit holder who arrived from the Philippines on Dec 4 and served Stay-Home Notice (SHN) at a dedicated facility until Dec 18.

His pre-departure test in the Philippines and test on Dec 14 during SHN were both negative.

He is employed by Singapore General Hospital but has yet to start work.

As part of his pre-employment health screening, he was tested for Covid-19 on Tuesday and his test result came back positive.

His serological test result has come back positive, which indicates a likely past infection.

Stores in Plaza Singapura, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands and Tiong Bahru Bakery were added to places visited by Covid-19 patients while they were still infectious.

There were also 29 imported cases confirmed by MOH, taking Singapore's total to 58,780.

They comprise one Singaporean, two permanent residents, one dependant's pass holder, five work pass holders, 16 work permit holders, one special pass holder and three short-term visit pass holders.

They tested positive while serving stay-home notices or in isolation after their arrival in Singapore, said MOH.

They came from several countries including the United Kingdom, India and Indonesia.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community increased from two cases in the week before last to 12 cases last week.

The number of unlinked cases in the community also increased from two cases in the week before last to five last week.

Singapore has had 29 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while 15 who tested positive have died of other causes.

THE STRAITS TIMES