2 new Covid-19 clusters, including Redhill Close

SINGAPORE - Two new Covid-19 clusters were announced by the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Tuesday (June 22).

One is at 90 Redhill Close and the other is linked to a foreign domestic worker who tested positive for the coronavirus on June 14.

The three cases in the 90 Redhill Close cluster include a 69-year-old retiree.

The woman is a family member and household contact of a 79-year-old retiree who is currently an unlinked case.

She had a sore throat, nausea and vomiting on Monday and sought medical treatment at Singapore General Hospital on the same day.

She was tested for Covid-19 on Monday as well and her test result came back positive the same day. Her serology test result was negative, suggesting that hers is a recent infection. 

Another case is a 50-year-old Singaporean woman who is currently unemployed. The woman, who is a close contact of a previous case, had a cough on Monday but did not seek medical attention. 

She was detected in Covid-19 testing on Monday as part of MOH's community surveillance testing for residents of the Redhill Close area.

She developed a fever on the same day and her test result came back positive for Covid-19 infection. Her serology test result is pending.

115 Bukit Merah View Market and Food Centre cluster

Three more people were added to the Bukit Merah View Market and Food Centre cluster, said MOH.

They include an 11-year-old pupil from Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (Kellock).

The Singaporean girl was last in school on May 18. She was placed on quarantine last Saturday after being identified as a family member and household contact of a Covid-19 case.

She developed a fever on Monday and reported her symptoms, and underwent Covid-19 testing on the same day.

This brings the total number of cases in the cluster to 81.

121 Bukit Merah View cluster

A 62-year-old Singaporean woman who works as a part-time cook at Marine Parade Central Market and Food Centre was added to the 121 Bukit Merah View cluster on Tuesday. She was last at work on June 6.

As she had been identified as a close contact of another case, she was placed on quarantine last Saturday. She is asymptomatic and was detected during Covid-19 testing on Sunday while in quarantine.

Her test result came back positive on Monday, while her serology test result was negative.

The woman received her first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine on April 10 and her second dose on May 1.

119 Bukit Merah View cluster

A 74-year-old Singaporean man, who is employed by Theng Liang Lee Services as a part-time cleaner at 104 Henderson Crescent, was added to the 119 Bukit Merah View cluster on Tuesday.

He developed a runny nose on Sunday but did not seek medical attention. He was detected during Covid-19 testing on Monday as part of MOH's community surveillance testing for residents of the Bukit Merah View area.

The man received his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine on April 28 and his second dose on May 19.

Other linked cases on Tuesday include a 23-year-old student at the Singapore Institute of Management. He developed a headache on Sunday and a fever on Monday.

He sought medical treatment at a GP clinic on Monday and underwent both an antigen rapid test (ART) and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. He was immediately isolated when his ART result came back positive the same day.

As he had been identified as a close contact of another case, he was placed on quarantine on Monday. His PCR test result came back positive for Covid-19 infection on Tuesday. His serology test result is pending.

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Among the five unlinked cases on Tuesday was a 79-year-old male retiree. He is a family member and household contact of a case linked to the 90 Redhill Close cluster, and a close contact of another case linked to the same cluster.

He developed a fever and cough on Monday but did not seek medical attention.

He was detected during Covid-19 testing on the same day as part of community surveillance testing for residents of the Redhill Close area.

His test result came back positive on the same day and his serology test result was negative.

The 10 linked cases on Tuesday consist of three who had already been placed on quarantine and seven who were detected through surveillance.

There were also three imported cases confirmed on Tuesday, making a total of 18 new cases.

The three imported cases had already been placed on stay-home notice or isolated upon arrival in Singapore.

One of them was a returning Singaporean and another one was a returning permanent resident, said MOH. Both returned from India.

The last imported case is a special pass holder who works as a sea crew member and who arrived on a ship from Brazil.

Tuesday's 18 cases take Singapore's total to 62,448, said the ministry.

There were no new cases from workers' dormitories for the eighth straight day.

The weekly total number of community cases was 104 in the past week, up from 60 in the previous week. The number of unlinked cases in the past week was 21, up from 17 in the week before.

There are currently 38 active clusters of infection, including the two new clusters. Two clusters were closed as it had been 28 days since the last case linked to each of them was detected.

As at noon on Tuesday, 142 patients remained hospitalised, two of whom were in critical condition in the intensive care unit, while 173 were recuperating in community facilities.

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

The latest was a 44-year-old man who died of Covid-19 complications on Sunday. He had been in Alexandra Hospital since May 25.

Read the full MOH press release here.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.