44-year-old man dies of Covid-19; special testing operations for 166 Bukit Merah Central

[SINGAPORE] A 44-year-old male permanent resident has died from complications due to Covid-19 infection on Sunday, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Monday.

This brings Singapore's death toll from the coronavirus to 35 people.

The man was admitted to Alexandra Hospital on May 25, and was confirmed to have Covid-19 infection the next day.

"He had not been vaccinated against Covid-19, and had a history of diabetes mellitus," said MOH. Alexandra Hospital has reached out to his family and is extending assistance to them, added the ministry.

Special testing operations will be conducted for all staff at the FairPrice supermarket at 166 Bukit Merah Central to disrupt any undetected community transmission, the ministry has said.

"We will also extend free Covid-19 testing to members of the public who had visited FairPrice at 166 Bukit Merah Central between June 3 and June 21," said MOH.

Five more people were also added to the Bukit Merah View Food Centre cluster, said the MOH on Monday night. This brings the total number of cases in the cluster to 78.

The five new cases in the cluster form the bulk of the ten linked cases that were announced on Monday. There were also three unlinked cases and three imported cases confirmed on Monday, for a total of 16 new cases.

Among the unlinked cases are a 33-year-old woman who works as a nurse at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital but is not involved in direct patient care.

The woman, a permanent resident, was last at work on June 17, and developed a sore throat and runny nose on June 18 before seeking medical treatment at a clinic the next day.

She underwent both an Antigen Rapid Test (ART) and a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Her ART result was negative for Covid-19. However, her PCR test result came back positive for Covid-19 infection on Sunday.

"Her earlier tests from Rostered Routine Testing (RRT) - the last being on June 7 - were negative for Covid-19 infection," said the ministry.

Her serology test result, which determines how early an infection is likely to be, is pending. The ministry added she received her first vaccine dose on Jan 13, and the second dose on Feb 4.

Among the cases added to the Bukit Merah View cluster is a 71 year-old male Singaporean who is a retiree.

He is a family member and household contact of a case confirmed on Friday and a close contact of another who was diagnosed on June 14. The man was placed on quarantine on the same day. and tested for Covid-19 the next day during quarantine.

His test result came back negative on June 16, but he subsequently developed a fever on June 19, and reported his symptoms. He underwent both an ART and PCR test on the same day. His test results came back positive for Covid-19 infection on Sunday, said the ministry.

"His serology test result is negative for the N antigen, which suggests the presence of early infection," it said, adding the man received his first vaccine dose on March 9.

The 16 confirmed cases as at Monday noon take Singapore's total to 62,430, said the ministry.

The ten linked cases consist of five cases that have already been placed on quarantine and five that were detected through surveillance.

Three imported cases were also reported. All of them are Singaporeans or permanent residents, and have already been placed on stay-home notices upon arrival in Singapore.

There were no new cases from workers' dormitories, marking a week since the last dormitory case was confirmed on June 14.

The weekly total number of community cases is 103 in the past week, up from 49 in the previous week. The number of unlinked cases has also risen to 20 in the past week, compared with 15 cases in the week before.

There are currently 38 active clusters of infection, up from 37 on Sunday, with two new clusters declared at 119 Bukit Merah View and 121 Bukit Merah View.

As at Monday noon, 134 patients remain hospitalised, none of whom are in critical condition in the intensive care unit, while 191 are recuperating in community facilities.

Singapore has had 35 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while 15 who tested positive have died of other causes.

THE STRAITS TIMES