S’porean healthcare volunteer at Expo isolation facility tests positive for COVID-19

A 52-year-old Singaporean woman who was volunteering at the Singapore Expo community isolation facility was tested positive for the COVID-19 disease, the Ministry of Health (MOH) stated on Monday (4 May).
According to the MOH, the healthcare volunteer – identified as Case 18669 – had no recent travel history to affected countries or regions. She is currently warded at the National Centre for Infectious Disease (NCID).
As of 12pm on Monday, the MOH has preliminary confirmed 573 new cases of COVID-19 which brings the reported cases in Singapore to 18,778 so far.
Of those, three infected cases work in the public healthcare sector, including a 33-year-old Singaporean woman who is a facilities manager at NCID, a 32-year-old Singaporean doctor at Changi General Hospital, and Case 18669.
This marks the second public healthcare sector case reported by the Singapore Expo facility, after a 34-year-old Singaporean woman – who was employed by the Health Promotion Board as a nurse – was reported to be infected with the disease on 2 May.
Similarly, the nurse also had no recent travel history to affected countries or regions. It was reported that she had not gone to work since the onset of her symptoms.
The Singapore Expo facility became the second “community care” facility for COVID-19 patients, after the D’Resort NTUC in Pasir Ris. It houses recovering patients of COVID-19 and patients who are confirmed to have contracted the virus but show mild symptoms. The facility has been in operation since 10 April.
There are about three community isolation facilities that accommodate COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms – Singapore Expo, Changi Exhibition Centre and D’Resort in Pasir Rise. Currently, more than 80 per cent of all COVID-19 patients are being housed in these community facilities.