As of 15 February 2020, 12 pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified five additional cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore.
Of these, three are linked to the cluster at Grace Assembly of God, one is linked to the cluster at Seletar Aerospace Heights construction site and the other case is linked to a previous case.
This makes a total of 72 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore so far.
Links between previous cases found
Further epidemiological investigations and contact tracing have uncovered links between previously announced and new cases.
a) Cases 8 and 9, as well as Cases 31, 33 and 38, are linked to The Life Church and Missions Singapore (146B Paya Lebar Road). This is a possible cluster involving five cases (Cases 8, 9, 31, 33 and 38).
b) Nine of the confirmed cases (Cases 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 27, 28, 34 and 40) are linked to the cluster associated with Yong Thai Hang (24 Cavan Road).
c) Three of the confirmed cases (Cases 30, 36 and 39) are linked to the private business meeting held at Grand Hyatt Singapore from 20 to 22 January.
d) Five of the confirmed cases (Cases 42, 47, 52, 56 and 69) are linked to the Seletar Aerospace Heights construction site.
e) Sixteen of the confirmed cases (Cases 48, 49, 51, 53, 54, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 63, 66, 67, 68, 70 and 71) are linked to the Grace Assembly of God.
Investigations on these clusters are ongoing.
Contact tracing is underway for the other eight locally transmitted cases to establish any links to previous cases or travel history to mainland China. Case 44 was a contact of Cases 13 and 26. Case 65 is linked to Cases 50 and 55. Case 59 is linked to Case 72.
About the confirmed cases
MOH has initiated epidemiological investigations and contact tracing to identify individuals who had close contact with the following cases who were confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 15 February morning.
Cases 68 to 72
- Case 68: 79 year-old female Singapore Citizen with no recent travel history to China. She is a family member of Case 66.
- Case 69: 26 year-old Bangladesh national who is a Singapore Work Pass holder, and has no recent travel history to China. He is linked to the cluster at Seletar Aerospace Heights construction site.
- Case 70: 27 year-old female Singapore Citizen with no recent travel history to China. She is a family member of Case 66.
- Case 71: 25 year-old male Singapore Citizen with no recent travel history to China. He is a contact of Case 66.
- Case 72: 40 year-old male Chinese national who is a Singapore Work Pass holder, and has no recent travel history to China. He is a non-medical contact of Case 59.
Case 63 (Announced on 14 February)
Case 63 is a 54 year-old female Singapore Citizen with no recent travel history to China. She is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. She is linked to the cluster at Grace Assembly of God.
Case 64 (Announced on 14 February)
Case 64 is a 50 year-old male Singapore Citizen with no recent travel history to China. He is currently warded in an isolation room at the National University Hospital (NUH).
Case 65 (Announced on 14 February)
Case 65 is a 61 year-old female Singapore Citizen with no recent travel history to China. She is a family member of Case 50.
Case 66 (Announced on 14 February)
Case 66 is a 28 year-old male Singapore Citizen with no recent travel history to China. He is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. He is linked to the cluster at Grace Assembly of God.
Case 67 (Announced on 14 February)
Case 67 is a 56 year-old female Singapore Citizen with no recent travel history to China. She is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. She is linked to the cluster at Grace Assembly of God, and family member of Case 61.
Update on condition of confirmed cases
To date, a total of 18 cases have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospital. Of the 54 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving. Six are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
Update on suspect cases
As of 15 February 2020, 12 pm, 812 of the suspect cases have tested negative for COVID-19, and 72 have tested positive. Test results for the remaining 107 cases are pending.
Update on contact tracing for confirmed cases
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.
As of 15 February 2020, 12 pm, MOH has identified 2,093 close contacts. Of the 1,959 who are still in Singapore, 1,697 have been contacted and are being quarantined or isolated. Efforts are ongoing to contact the remaining 262 close contacts.
