THREE MORE CASES TESTED PRELIMINARILY POSITIVE FOR OMICRON VARIANT

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has detected three more COVID-19 cases who have tested preliminarily positive for the Omicron variant, of whom one is a local case, one is imported and the other is a close contact of the imported case. All three cases are fully vaccinated and have mild or no symptoms, and are recovering in isolation wards at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID). MOH is ringfencing the cases through contact tracing.

Cases 278256 and 279395

2. Case 278256 is a 36 year-old male who travelled to Singapore via the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) from the US. His pre-departure test in the US on 6 December was negative for COVID-19 infection, as was his on-arrival polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on 8 December. However he tested positive for COVID-19 infection for his supervised antigen rapid test (ART) on 10 December, and his PCR test result also came back positive on 11 December. 

3. Case 279395, a 34 year-old female, is the spouse of Case 278256, and had no recent travel history. She was placed on quarantine on 14 December as she had been identified as a close contact of Case 278256, and tested positive for COVID-19 infection on the same day. Prior to that, she was working from home. 

4. Between 8 December and 9 December 2021, they had dined at the following restaurants: 

• 8 December: Mizuki at Ngee Ann City;
• 8 December: Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant at Sheraton Towers Singapore;
• 8 December: Merci Marcel at Palais Renaissance; and
• 9 December: Signs A Taste Of Vietnam Pho at Orchard Gateway.

5. All  customer-facing restaurant staff, as well as patrons with SafeEntry check-in/out timings that coincided with the time that the cases were at the restaurants, will be issued Health Risk Warnings (HRW) by MOH. A one-time targeted PCR testing operation will also be conducted for these individuals, whom MOH will contact. 

6. All visitors to the affected premises are advised to monitor their health closely, and minimise social interactions as far as possible, for 14 days from their date of visit or interaction. They are encouraged to see a doctor immediately if they feel unwell.

Case 279330 

7. Case 279330 is a 54 year-old male who works as a loading cabin assistant at Changi Airport Terminal 3, and had no contact with flight passengers. He was tested for COVID-19 on 14 December as part of rostered routine testing, and his PCR test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection. He had been placed on a daily antigen rapid testing regime since 10 December, and his test results up to 13 December were all negative.

8. The National Public Health Laboratory is conducting whole genome sequencing for all three cases to confirm the variant and contact tracing is ongoing. All close contacts of the cases will be placed on 10-day quarantine at designated facilities and undergo PCR tests at the start and end of their quarantine.

9. To date, there are 16 confirmed Omicron cases detected in Singapore, with 14 imported cases and two local cases who are airport passenger service staff. Given its high transmissibility and spread to many parts of the world, we should expect to find more Omicron cases at our borders and also within our community. It is important for everyone to continue to play their part and remain vigilant to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, and to come forward to receive your vaccination or booster dose when offered.