Eight more cases discharged; twelve new cases of COVID-19 infection confirmed

1. Eight more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospital (Cases 53, 95, 102, 103, 135, 146, 150 and 160). In all, 105 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospital.

2. As of 14 March 2020, 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified 12 more cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore. Of these:

•   One is part of the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong on 15 February (Case 201);
•   Nine are imported cases (Cases 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 209, 210 and 212);
•   One (Case 211) is linked to a previous case (Case 142); and
•   One is currently unlinked (Case 208).

Links between previous cases found

3. Further epidemiological investigations and contact tracing have uncovered links between previously announced and new cases. This was made possible with the assistance of the Singapore Police Force.

a) Eight of the locally transmitted confirmed cases (Cases 31, 33, 38, 83, 90, 91, 138 and 151), as well as Cases 8 and 9, are linked to The Life Church and Missions Singapore. These cases are linked to another 23 confirmed cases (Cases 48, 49, 51, 53, 54, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 63, 66, 67, 68, 70, 71, 73, 74, 78, 80, 81, 84, 88) who are linked to the Grace Assembly of God.

b) Five of the confirmed cases (Cases 42, 47, 52, 56 and 69) are linked to the Seletar Aerospace Heights construction site.

c) 14 of the confirmed cases (Cases 93, 95, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 108 and 110) are linked to Wizlearn Technologies Pte Ltd.

d) 45 of the confirmed cases (Cases 94, 96, 107, 112, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 120, 121, 122, 125, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 133, 134, 137, 139, 140, 142, 144, 145, 146, 148, 149, 150, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 164, 166, 174, 179, 185, 186, 196 and 201) are linked to a private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong on 15 February.

e) Three of the confirmed cases (Cases 142, 162 and 163) are linked to boulder+ Gym (12 Kallang Avenue).

4. Investigations on these clusters are ongoing. In addition to the clusters, our investigations have identified the following links between cases:

•   Case 72 is linked to Cases 59 and 79;
•   Case 75 is linked to Case 41;
•   Case 86 is linked to Case 82;
•   Case 126 is linked to Case 109;
•   Case 143 is linked to Case 132;
•   Case 167 is linked to Case 178;
•   Case 190 is linked to Case 172;
•   Case 200 is linked to Case 165; and
•   Case 211 is linked to Case 142.

5. Contact tracing is underway for the other 11 locally transmitted cases to establish any links to previous cases or travel history to affected countries or regions.

About the confirmed cases

Case 201

6. Case 201 is a 52 year-old female Singapore Citizen with no recent travel history to affected countries and region. She is currently warded in an isolation room at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH). She is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.

7. She reported onset of symptoms on 5 March and had sought treatment at a general practitioner (GP) clinic on the same day. She presented at NTFGH on 7 March and subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 13 March afternoon.

8. Prior to hospital admission, she mostly stayed at her home at Teck Whye Lane.

Case 202

9. Case 202 is an imported case involving a 44 year-old male Singapore Citizen who had been in Malaysia from 28 February to 3 March. He is currently warded in an isolation room at Sengkang General Hospital (SKH). He had attended a mass religious gathering at a mosque in Malaysia, and the Malaysian authorities had subsequently reported several confirmed COVID-19 cases linked to the event.

10. He reported onset of symptoms on 3 March and had sought treatment at a GP clinic on 4 March and 5 March. He presented at SKH on 12 March and subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 13 March afternoon.

11. Prior to hospital admission, he had visited Masjid Al-Mawaddah (151 Compassvale Bow), Masjid Jamae (Chulia) (218 South Bridge Road) and Masjid Al-Istiqamah (2 Serangoon North Avenue 2). He stays at Anchorvale Drive.

Case 203

12. Case 203 is likely to be an imported case involving a 36 year-old female Singapore Citizen who had been in Indonesia from 6 March to 8 March. She is currently warded in an isolation room at Changi General Hospital (CGH).

13. She reported onset of symptoms on 11 March, and presented at the emergency department of CGH on 12 March. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 13 March afternoon.

14. Prior to hospital admission, she mostly stayed at her home at Pasir Ris Street 51.

Case 204

15. Case 204 is an imported case involving a 32 year-old male American national who is a Singapore Work Pass holder, and had been in Japan from 29 February to 8 March. He is currently warded in an isolation room at Singapore General Hospital (SGH).

16. He reported onset of symptoms on 11 March, and had sought treatment at a GP clinic on 12 March. He presented at SGH on 12 March, and subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 13 March afternoon.

17. Prior to hospital admission, he had mostly stayed at his home in the Tanjong Pagar Road area.

Case 205

18. Case 205 is an imported case involving a 30 year-old female Filipino national who is a Singapore Long Term Visit Pass holder, and had been in the Philippines from 27 February to 6 March. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 14 March morning, and is currently warded in an isolation room at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).

Case 206

19. Case 206 is an imported case involving a 33 year-old female New Zealand national who is a Singapore Long Term Visit Pass holder, and had been to the United States from 28 February to 13 March. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 14 March morning, and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.

Case 207

20. Case 207 is an imported case involving a 40 year-old female Singapore Citizen who had been in the United Kingdom from 6 March to 11 March. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 14 March morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.

Case 208

21. Case 208 is a 26 year-old female Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 14 March morning, and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.

Case 209

22. Case 209 is an imported case involving a 32 year-old female Singapore Citizen who had been in the United States from 2 March to 7 March. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 14 March morning, and is currently warded in an isolation room at SGH.

Case 210

23. Case 210 is an imported case involving a 56 year-old male German national who is a Singapore Long Term Visit Pass holder, and had been in Germany from 27 February to 3 March, and again from 11 March to 12 March, and Switzerland from 3 March to 10 March. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 14 March morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.

Case 211

24. Case 211 is a 35 year-old female Filipino national who is a Singapore Long Term Visit Pass holder. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 14 March morning, and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. She is linked to Case 142¹.

Case 212

25. Case 212 is an imported case involving a 64 year-old male Indonesian national. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 14 March morning, and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.

Case 190 (Announced on 13 March)

26. Case 190 is a 53 year-old male Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. He is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. He is linked to Case 172².

27. He reported onset of symptoms on 10 March. As he had been identified as a contact of Case 172, he was referred by MOH to NCID on 12 March. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 13 March morning.

28. Prior to hospital admission, he mostly stayed at his home at Yishun Ave 11. He is a taxi driver but had not worked since onset of symptoms.

Case 191 (Announced on 13 March)

29. Case 191 is an imported case involving a 24 year-old female Malaysian national who is a Singapore Work Pass holder, and had been in Germany from 24 February to 28 February, and Malaysia from 28 February to 3 March, and again from 6 March to 10 March. She is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.

30. She reported onset of symptoms on 9 March while in Malaysia and had sought treatment at two GP clinics on 11 March and 12 March. She was referred to NCID on 12 March and subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 13 March morning.

31. She is employed as a cabin crew at Singapore Airlines but had not gone to work since onset of symptoms. She stays at Pasir Ris Grove.

Case 192 (Announced on 13 March)

32. Case 192 is an imported case involving a 32 year-old male American national who arrived in Singapore on 10 March from the United States. He is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.

33. He reported onset of symptoms on 11 March and presented at NCID on 12 March. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 13 March morning.

34. Prior to hospital admission, he mostly stayed at his room at The Pod @ Beach Road (289 Beach Road).

Case 193 (Announced on 13 March)

35. Case 193 is an imported case involving a 26 year-old male Malaysian national who is a Singapore Work Pass holder, and had been in Germany from 1 March to 3 March, Czech Republic from 4 March to 6 March, Austria from 7 March to 8 March, and Hungary from 9 March to 10 March. He is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. He is linked to Case 194.

36. He sought treatment at a GP clinic on 12 March, and was referred to NCID. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 13 March morning.

37. Prior to hospital admission, he mostly stayed at his home at Telok Blangah Street 31.

Case 194 (Announced on 13 March)

38. Case 194 is an imported case involving a 24 year-old female Chinese national who is a Singapore Work Pass holder, and had been in Germany from 1 March to 3 March, Czech Republic from 4 March to 6 March, Austria from 7 March to 8 March, and Hungary from 9 March to 10 March. She is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. She is linked to Case 193.   

39. She reported onset of symptoms on 8 March and had sought treatment at a GP clinic on 12 March, and was referred to NCID. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 13 March morning.

40. Prior to hospital admission, she mostly stayed at her home at Telok Blangah Street 31.

Case 195 (Announced on 13 March)

41. Case 195 is an imported case involving a 47 year-old male Singapore Citizen who had been in the United States from 4 February to 17 February, and Canada from 17 February to 9 March. He is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.

42. He reported onset of symptoms on 6 March while he was in Canada and had sought treatment at a GP clinic on 12 March. He was referred to NCID on the same day. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 13 March morning.

43. He stays at Bukit Batok Ave 3.

Case 196 (Announced on 13 March)

44. Case 196 is a 73-year-old female Singapore Citizen with no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. She is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. She is a contact of Cases 107 and 148 and is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.

45. She reported onset of symptoms on 3 March and had sought treatment at a GP clinic on 9 March. She was referred to NCID, and subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 13 March morning.

46. Prior to hospital admission, she mostly stayed at her home at Holland Close.

Case 197 (Announced on 13 March)

47. Case 197 is an imported case involving a 30-year-old male Singapore Citizen who had been in Malaysia from 28 February to 2 March. He is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. He had attended a mass religious gathering at a mosque in Malaysia, and the Malaysian authorities had subsequently reported several confirmed COVID-19 cases linked to the event.

48. He reported onset of symptoms on 4 March and had sought treatment at a GP clinic on 5 March. He presented at NCID on 12 March, and subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 13 March morning.

49. Prior to hospital admission, he had gone to work at Vopak Terminals Singapore Pte Ltd (51 Banyan Avenue), and visited Masjid Kassim (450 Changi Road), Masjid Petempatan Melayu Sembawang (25 Jln Mempurong), Masjid Sultan (3 Muscat Street) and Fong Leong Engineering Pte Ltd (10 Buroh Street) . He stays at Canberra Street.

Case 198 (Announced on 13 March)

50. Case 198 is a 61 year-old female Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. She is currently warded at NCID.

51. She reported onset of symptoms on 7 March and had sought treatment at two GP clinics on 8 March and 12 March. She was referred to NCID on 12 March. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 13 March morning.

52. Prior to hospital admission, she mostly stayed at her home at Saraca Road.

Case 199 (Announced on 13 March)

53. Case 199 is an imported case involving a 37-year-old male Singapore Citizen who had been in Malaysia from 26 February to 2 March. He is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. He had attended a mass religious gathering at a mosque in Malaysia, and the Malaysia authorities had subsequently reported several confirmed COVID-19 cases linked to the event.

54. He reported onset of symptoms on 3 March. He was referred by MOH to NCID on 12 March. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 13 March morning.

55. Prior to hospital admission, he had gone to work as a food delivery personnel employed by GrabFood and visited Masjid Al-Mawaddah (151 Compassvale Bow). He stays at Hougang Street 51.

Case 200 (Announced on 13 March)

56. Case 200 is a 62-year-old female Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. She is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. She is a family member of Case 165³.

57. She reported onset of symptoms on 12 March. As she has been identified as a contact of Case 165, she was issued a home quarantine order on 10 March. She was conveyed to NCID by an ambulance on 13 March, and subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 13 March morning.

58. She stays at Jalan Mulia.

Update on condition of confirmed cases

59. To date, a total of 105 cases have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospital. Of the 107 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving. 14 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

Update on contact tracing for confirmed cases

60. Contact tracing for the confirmed cases is ongoing. Once identified, MOH will closely monitor all close contacts. As a precautionary measure, they will be quarantined for 14 days from their last exposure to the patient. In addition, all other identified contacts who have a low risk of being infected will be under active surveillance, and will be contacted daily to monitor their health status.

61. As of 14 March 2020, 12pm, MOH has identified 5,244 close contacts who have been quarantined. Of these, 1,712 are currently quarantined, and 3,532 have completed their quarantine.

Health advisory

62. Singaporeans are advised to defer all travel to Hubei Province and all non-essential travel to mainland China, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Spain.

63. All travellers should monitor their health closely for two weeks upon return to Singapore and seek medical attention promptly if they feel unwell. Travellers should inform their doctor of their travel history. If they have a fever or respiratory symptoms (e.g. cough, shortness of breath), they should wear a mask and call the clinic ahead of the visit.

64. Travellers and members of the public should adopt the following precautions at all times:

•   Avoid close contact with people who are unwell or showing symptoms of illness;
•   Observe good personal hygiene;
•   Practise frequent hand washing with soap (e.g. before handling food or eating, after going to toilet, or when hands are dirtied by respiratory secretions after coughing or sneezing);
•   Wear a mask if you have respiratory symptoms such as a cough or shortness of breath;
•   Cover your mouth with a tissue paper when coughing or sneezing, and dispose the soiled tissue paper in the rubbish bin immediately; and
•   Seek medical attention promptly if you are feeling unwell.

65. MOH will continue to monitor the situation closely. As medical practitioners are on the lookout for suspect cases, Singapore is likely to see more cases that will need to be investigated.

[1] Case 142 is a 26 year-old male Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. He is a family member of Cases 139 and 140, and is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 7 March.
[2] Case 172 is a 42 year-old female Philippines national who is a Singapore Work Pass Holder, and had been in the Philippines from 27 February to 2 March. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 11 March.
[3] Case 165 is a 30 year-old male Singapore Citizen who had been in France from 15 February to 7 March. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 10 March.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH
14 MARCH 2020