30 new Covid-19 community cases in S'pore, including 8 unlinked

Singapore

THERE were 40 new Covid-19 cases, including 30 in the community, as at noon on Friday, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

Of the community cases, eight are currently unlinked.

The remaining 22 are linked to previous cases. Among them, 16 had already been quarantined.

There were also 10 imported cases who had been placed on stay-home notice on arrival in Singapore, said MOH.

Of these, eight are returning Singaporeans or permanent residents. There were no new cases in the workers' dormitories.

The new cases take Singapore's total to 61,770.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and Changi Airport Group (CAG) on Friday said that out of almost 19,000 airport workers swabbed in a special testing operation, 10 have tested positive for Covid-19.

The tests were carried out from May 9 to May 20 after the emergence of a cluster of Covid-19 cases at the airport. All the infected workers are from Changi Airport Terminal 3, with workers from Terminal 1 and Jewel Changi Airport testing negative.

In all, 43 airport workers have tested positive for Covid-19 so far.

The other 33 infected workers had been detected through other methods, such as when they were serving quarantine orders or undergoing rostered routine testing.

None of the workers is in serious condition, requires oxygen or is in the intensive care unit.

Most of the cases were detected early and the case numbers had peaked around May 13, CAAS and CAG added.

The figures were announced in an update about measures that have been taken at Changi Airport amid a growing number of cases linked to the airport's Covid-19 cluster - which is currently the largest active one, with 100 cases as at Thursday.

Meanwhile, Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) is reopening Ward 9D, the epicentre of its Covid-19 outbreak from May 22, with a suite of enhanced measures to better protect its patients and staff.

Another locked-down ward, Ward 9C, will also be open for admissions on Saturday. Wards 7D and 10B have already been reopened for admissions.

Investigations into the cause of transmission within the hospital are ongoing, the hospital said.

Singapore's director of medical services Kenneth Mak had said on Tuesday that the authorities are investigating the possibility of airborne transmission within the hospital, pointing to reports that suggest a stronger possibility of airborne transmission in certain settings - particularly closed environments with limited airflow and poor ventilation.

To allow for better ventilation and air purification, TTSH has installed exhaust fans and portable Hepa filters in Ward 9D, a C-class ward. These will be installed in all its hospital wards by this weekend. The hospital had halted admissions for two weeks amid a cluster that grew to 46 patients. It was linked to Ward 9D, where a nurse was on April 28 reported to have tested positive for Covid-19.

Two patients, both linked to the TTSH cluster, have died because of Covid-19 complications.

They are an 88-year-old Singaporean woman, who had a history of cancer, high blood pressure, heart failure, stroke and high cholesterol, and a 70-year-old man who had a history of lung cancer and abnormal heart rhythm. THE STRAITS TIMES