As of 9 March 2020, 12 pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified 10 more cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore. Of these:
- Six are part of the cluster involving a private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong (333 Boon Lay Way) on 15 February;
- One is linked to the cluster at The Life Church and Missions Singapore (146B Paya Lebar Road); and
- Three are imported cases.
This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 160 so far.
Prioritisation of resources at public hospitals
In view of the rising number of COVID-19 infections globally, and the expected rise in the number of confirmed cases in Singapore, we will need to prioritise the resources at our public hospitals.
From 7 March 2020, foreigners who are short-term visit pass holders (STVP) who seek treatment for COVID-19 in Singapore will need to pay for their treatment. MOH will continue to waive COVID-19 testing fees for all STVP holders as part of our public health measures to identify and initiate contact tracing for confirmed cases who may have been infectious while in Singapore.
The government will continue to pay for the COVID-19 testing fees and hospital bill in full for Singapore Residents and long term pass holders who are admitted to public hospitals for COVID-19.
About the confirmed cases
Case 151
Case 151 is a 51 year-old male Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. He is a contact of Cases 66 and 91, and is linked to the cluster at The Life Church and Missions Singapore.
Case 152
Case 152 is an imported case involving a 65 year-old male Indonesian national who arrived in Singapore on 7 March. He is currently warded in an isolation room at Singapore General Hospital (SGH).
Case 153
Case 153 is likely to be an imported case involving a 65 year-old female Singapore Citizen who had been in Indonesia from 25 February to 28 February. She reported that while she was in Indonesia, she had visited her sister who had pneumonia. She is currently warded in an isolation room at SGH.
Case 154
Case 154 is an imported case involving a 52 year-old male British national. He arrived in Singapore on 6 March and was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 9 March morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.
Case 155
Case 155 is a 47 year-old female Malaysian national who is a Singapore Work Pass holder, and who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 9 March morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. She is a contact of Case 128, and is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.
Case 156
Case 156 is a 50 year-old female Singapore Permanent Resident 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.
Case 157
Case 157 is a 54 year-old female Singapore Permanent Resident who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 9 March morning, and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. She is a contact of Case 137, and is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.
Case 158
Case 158 is a 53 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 9 March morning, and 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.
Case 159
Case 159 is a 59 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 9 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 160
Case 160 is a five 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 9 March morning, and is currently warded in an isolation room at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital. He is a family member of Case 145, and is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.
Case 145 (Announced on 8 March)
Case 145 is a 67 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 contact of Case 134, and is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.
Case 146 (Announced on 8 March)
Case 146 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 contact of Case 134, and is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.
Case 147 (Announced on 8 March)
Case 147 is an imported case involving a 64 year-old male Indonesian national who arrived in Singapore on 7 March. He is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.
Case 148 (Announced on 8 March)
Case 148 is a 67 year-old female Singapore Citizen who had been in Indonesia from 11 February to 14 February. She is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. She is a contact of Case 107, and is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.
Case 149 (Announced on 8 March)
Case 149 is a 62 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 the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.
Case 150 (Announced on 8 March)
Case 150 is a 53 year-old female Singapore Permanent Resident who has 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 115 and 134, and is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong.
Update on condition of confirmed cases
To date, a total of 93 cases have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospital. Of the 67 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving. Ten 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) 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) 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) 36 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 and 160) 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:
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- 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;
- Case 126 is linked to Case 109; and
- Case 143 is linked to Case 132.
Contact tracing is underway for the other 14 locally transmitted cases to establish any links to previous cases or travel history to affected countries or regions.
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 9 March 2020, 12pm, MOH has identified 3,784 close contacts who have been quarantined. Of these, 724 are currently quarantined, and 3,060 have completed their quarantine.
