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Thirteen new cases of Covid-19 infection; Nine linked to cluster at SAFRA Jurong private dinner function

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5 years ago

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As of 6 March 2020, 12 pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified 13 more cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore and one more case of COVID-19 infection has been discharged from hospital today.

Of the confirmed cases nine are part of the cluster involving a private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong (333 Boon Lay Way) on 15 February, one is linked to a previous case, two are likely to be imported cases, and one is unlinked.

This brings the total number of infected cases to 130 so far.

About the confirmed cases

Case 118

Case 118 is a 33-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 the National University Hospital (NUH). She is a family member of Cases 114 and 115 and is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.

More details

She reported onset of symptoms on 29 February and had sought treatment at Pioneer Polyclinic on 2 March. She presented at the emergency department at NUH on 4 March. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 5 March afternoon.

Prior to hospital admission, she had mostly stayed at home in the Westwood Avenue area.

Case 119

Case 119 is a 55-year-old male Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. He is warded in an isolation room at Alexandra Hospital (AH).

More details

He reported onset of symptoms on 27 February and had sought treatment at a general practitioner (GP) clinic on the same day, and on 29 February. He presented at the Urgent Care Centre at AH on 1 March and 5 March. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 5 March afternoon.

Prior to hospital admission, he had mostly stayed at his home at Stirling Road. He is employed by SingTel but had not gone to work since onset of symptoms.

Case 120

Case 120 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 the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID). She is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.

More details

She reported onset of symptoms on 2 March and had sought treatment at a GP clinic on 3 March. As she had attended the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong on 15 February, she was referred by MOH to NCID on 5 March and was immediately isolated. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 5 March afternoon.

Prior to hospital admission, she had visited Boon Lay Shopping Centre (221 Boon Lay Place). She stays at Jurong West Street 65.

Case 121

Case 121 is a 54-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 linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.

More details

She reported onset of symptoms on 26 February and had sought treatment at a GP clinic on 1 March. As she had attended the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong on 15 February, she was referred by MOH to NCID on 5 March and was immediately isolated. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 5 March afternoon.

Prior to hospital admission, she had mostly stayed at her home at Corporation Drive.

Case 122

Case 122 is a 64-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 close contact of Case 117, and is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.

More details

She reported onset of symptoms on 3 March and had sought treatment at a GP clinic on 5 March. She was referred to NCID on the same day and was immediately isolated. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 5 March afternoon.

Prior to hospital admission, she had visited Westgate (3 Gateway Drive) and Keat Hong Community Club (2 Choa Chu Kang Loop). She stays at Petir Road.

Case 123

Case 123 is likely to be an imported case involving a 47-year-old male Singapore Citizen who had been in South Africa from 14 February to 17 February and France from 22 February to 24 February.

More details

He reported onset of symptoms on 27 February and had sought treatment at a GP clinic on the same day, and on 2 March and 4 March. He presented at Sengkang General Hospital on 4 March. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 5 March afternoon.

Prior to hospital admission, he had mostly stayed at his home at Fernvale Close. He is employed by Singapore Airlines as a cabin crew but had not gone to work since onset of symptoms.

Case 124

Case 124 is likely to be an imported case involving a 37-year-old female Singapore Permanent Resident who had been in Germany from 27 February to 5 March. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 6 March morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.

Case 125

Case 125 is a 65-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 6 March morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. She is a family member of Case 128 and is linked to the cluster involving a private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.

Case 126

Case 126 is a 77-year-old male Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 5 March afternoon and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.

More details

As part of enhanced precautions, patients who have the acute respiratory infection will be placed in wards with greater separation between patients to minimise the risk of infection. Case 126 had been in the same ward as Case 109 at Singapore General Hospital from 29 February to 1 March, before Case 109 had been confirmed to have COVID-19 infection. Case 126 had been quarantined since 4 March.

Case 127

Case 127 is a 64-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 5 March afternoon and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. She is a close contact of Case 117 and is linked to the cluster involving a private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.

Case 128

Case 128 is a 70-year-old male Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 6 March morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. He is a family member of Case 125, and is linked to the cluster involving a private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.

Case 129

Case 129 is a 68-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 6 March morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH). She is a family member of case 130, and is linked to the cluster involving a private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.

Case 130

Case 130 is a 66-year-old male Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 6 March morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at NTFGH. He is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.

Case 116 (Announced on 5 March)

Case 116 is a 50-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 linked to the cluster involving a private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.

More details

She reported onset of symptoms on 29 February and had sought treatment at a GP clinic on 1 March and 3 March. As she had attended the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong on 15 February, she was referred by MOH to NCID and was immediately isolated. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 5 March morning.

Prior to hospital admission, she had mostly stayed at her home at Jurong West Street 81.

Case 117 (Announced on 5 March)

Case 117 is a 52-year-old female Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions but had been in Malaysia on 1 March. She is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. She is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.

More details

She reported the onset of symptoms on 2 March. As she had attended the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong on 15 February, she was referred by MOH to NCID, and immediately isolated. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 5 March morning.

Prior to hospitalisation, she had visited shops located at 131 Marsiling Rise and 731 Yishun Street 72, and attended exercise classes at Petir Park (141 Petir Road) and Zhenghua Nature Park (466 Segar Road). She stays at Senja Road.

Update on condition of confirmed cases

To date, a total of 82 cases have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from the hospital. Of the 48 confirmed cases who are still in the hospital, most are stable or improving. Nine are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

Links between previous cases found

Further epidemiological investigations and contact tracing have uncovered links between previously announced and new cases.

a)        Six of the locally transmitted confirmed cases (Cases 31, 33, 38, 83, 90 and 91), as well as Cases 8 and 9, are linked to The Life Church and Missions Singapore. These six 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)        Nine of the confirmed cases (Cases 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 27, 28, 34 and 40) are linked to Yong Thai Hang.
c)        Three of the confirmed cases (Cases 30, 36 and 39) are linked to the 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)        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.
f)         17 of the confirmed cases (Cases 94, 96, 107, 112, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 120, 121, 122, 125, 127, 128, 129 and 130) are linked to a private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong on 15 February.

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

  • Case 44 is linked to Cases 13 and 26;
  • Case 72 is linked to Cases 59 and 79;
  • Case 50 is linked to Cases 55, 65 and 77;
  • Case 75 is linked to Case 41;
  • Case 86 is linked to Case 82; and
  • Case 126 is linked to Case 109.

Contact tracing is underway for the other 12 locally transmitted cases to establish any links to previous cases or travel history to affected countries or regions.

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 6 March 2020, 12pm, MOH has identified 3,366 close contacts who have been quarantined. Of these, 389 are currently quarantined, and 2,977 have completed their quarantine.

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Current Affairs

Hotel Properties Limited suspends trading ahead of Ong Beng Seng’s court hearing

Hotel Properties Limited (HPL), co-founded by Mr Ong Beng Seng, has halted trading ahead of his court appearance today (4 October). The announcement was made by HPL’s company secretary at about 7.45am, citing a pending release of an announcement. Mr Ong faces one charge of abetting a public servant in obtaining gifts and another charge of obstruction of justice. He is due in court at 2.30pm.

Published

8 hours ago

on

4 October 2024

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SINGAPORE: Hotel Properties Limited (HPL), the property and hotel developer co-founded by Mr Ong Beng Seng, has requested a trading halt ahead of the Singapore tycoon’s scheduled court appearance today (4 October) afternoon.

This announcement was made by HPL’s company secretary at approximately 7.45am, stating that the halt was due to a pending release of an announcement.

Mr Ong, who serves as HPL’s managing director and controlling shareholder, faces one charge under Section 165, accused of abetting a public servant in obtaining gifts, as well as one charge of obstruction of justice.

He is set to appear in court at 2.30pm on 4 October.

Ong’s charges stem from his involvement in a high-profile corruption case linked to former Singaporean transport minister S Iswaran.

The 80-year-old businessman was named in Iswaran’s initial graft charges earlier this year.

These charges alleged that Iswaran had corruptly received valuable gifts from Ong, including tickets to the 2022 Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix, flights, and a hotel stay in Doha.

These gifts were allegedly provided to advance Ong’s business interests, particularly in securing contracts with the Singapore Tourism Board for the Singapore GP and the ABBA Voyage virtual concert.

Although Iswaran no longer faces the original corruption charges, the prosecution amended them to lesser charges under Section 165.

Iswaran pleaded guilty on 24 September, 2024, to four counts under this section, which covered over S$400,000 worth of gifts, including flight tickets, sports event access, and luxury items like whisky and wines.

Additionally, he faced one count of obstructing justice for repaying Ong for a Doha-Singapore flight shortly before the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) became involved.

On 3 October, Iswaran was sentenced to one year in jail by presiding judge Justice Vincent Hoong.

The prosecution had sought a sentence of six to seven months for all charges, while the defence had asked for a significantly reduced sentence of no more than eight weeks.

Ong, a Malaysian national based in Singapore, was arrested by CPIB in July 2023 and released on bail shortly thereafter. Although no charges were initially filed against him, Ong’s involvement in the case intensified following Iswaran’s guilty plea.

The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) had earlier indicated that it would soon make a decision regarding Ong’s legal standing, which has now led to the current charges.

According to the statement of facts read during Iswaran’s conviction, Ong’s case came to light as part of a broader investigation into his associates, which revealed Iswaran’s use of Ong’s private jet for a flight from Singapore to Doha in December 2022.

CPIB investigators uncovered the flight manifest and seized the document.

Upon learning that the flight records had been obtained, Ong contacted Iswaran, advising him to arrange for Singapore GP to bill him for the flight.

Iswaran subsequently paid Singapore GP S$5,700 for the Doha-Singapore business class flight in May 2023, forming the basis of his obstruction of justice charge.

Mr Ong is recognised as the figure who brought Formula One to Singapore in 2008, marking the first night race in the sport’s history.

He holds the rights to the Singapore Grand Prix. Iswaran was the chairman of the F1 steering committee and acted as the chief negotiator with Singapore GP on business matters concerning the race.

 

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Current Affairs

Chee Soon Juan questions Shanmugam’s $88 million property sale amid silence from Mainstream Media

Dr Chee Soon Juan of the SDP raised concerns about the S$88 million sale of Mr K Shanmugam’s Good Class Bungalow at Astrid Hill, questioning transparency and the lack of mainstream media coverage. He called for clarity on the buyer, valuation, and potential conflicts of interest.

Published

2 weeks ago

on

23 September 2024

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On Sunday (22 Sep), Dr Chee Soon Juan, Secretary General of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), issued a public statement on Facebook, expressing concerns regarding the sale of Minister for Home Affairs and Law, Mr K Shanmugam’s Good Class Bungalow (GCB) at Astrid Hill.

Dr Chee questioned the transparency of the S$88 million transaction and the absence of mainstream media coverage despite widespread discussion online.

According to multiple reports cited by Dr Chee, Mr Shanmugam’s property was transferred in August 2023 to UBS Trustees (Singapore) Pte Ltd, which holds the property in trust under the Jasmine Villa Settlement.

Dr Chee’s statement focused on two primary concerns: the lack of response from Mr Shanmugam regarding the transaction and the silence of major media outlets, including Singapore Press Holdings and Mediacorp.

He argued that, given the ongoing public discourse and the relevance of property prices in Singapore, the sale of a high-value asset by a public official warranted further scrutiny.

In his Facebook post, Dr Chee posed several questions directed at Mr Shanmugam and the government:

  1. Who purchased the property, and is the buyer a Singaporean citizen?
  2. Who owns Jasmine Villa Settlement?
  3. Were former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and current Prime Minister Lawrence Wong informed of the transaction, and what were their responses?
  4. How was it ensured that the funds were not linked to money laundering?
  5. How was the property’s valuation determined, and by whom?

The Astrid Hill property, originally purchased by Mr Shanmugam in 2003 for S$7.95 million, saw a significant increase in value, aligning with the high-end status of District 10, where it is located. The 3,170.7 square-meter property was sold for S$88 million in August 2023.

Dr Chee highlighted that, despite Mr Shanmugam’s detailed responses regarding the Ridout Road property, no such transparency had been offered in relation to the Astrid Hill sale.

He argued that the lack of mainstream media coverage was particularly concerning, as public interest in the sale is high. Dr Chee emphasized that property prices and housing affordability are critical issues in Singapore, and transparency from public officials is essential to maintain trust.

Dr Chee emphasized that the Ministerial Code of Conduct unambiguously states: “A Minister must scrupulously avoid any actual or apparent conflict of interest between his office and his private financial interests.”

He concluded his statement by reiterating the need for Mr Shanmugam to address the questions raised, as the matter involves not only the Minister himself but also the integrity of the government and its responsibility to the public.

The supposed sale of Mr Shamugam’s Astrid Hill property took place just a month after Mr Shanmugam spoke in Parliament over his rental of a state-owned bungalow at Ridout Road via a ministerial statement addressing potential conflicts of interest.

At that time, Mr Shanmugam explained that his decision to sell his home was due to concerns about over-investment in a single asset, noting that his financial planning prompted him to sell the property and move into rental accommodation.

The Ridout Road saga last year centred on concerns about Mr Shanmugam’s rental of a sprawling black-and-white colonial bungalow, occupying a massive plot of land, managed by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), which he oversees in his capacity as Minister for Law. Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, also rented a similarly expansive property nearby.

Mr Shanmugam is said to have recused himself from the decision-making process, and a subsequent investigation by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) found no wrongdoing while Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean confirmed in Parliament that Mr Shanmugam had removed himself from any decisions involving the property.

As of now, Mr Shanmugam has not commented publicly on the sale of his Astrid Hill property.

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