As of Thursday noon (7 Jan), the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed an additional 33 cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore.
This brings the total number of infection cases to 58,813.
Amongst the new cases today, 30 are asymptomatic and were detected from screening and surveillance, while 3 were symptomatic.
There are two new cases of locally transmitted COVID-19 infection.
There are 2 cases in the community today who are currently unlinked.
Case 59059, a 43 year-old female Malaysian, is a Work Permit holder who works at Azur at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport (75 Airport Boulevard). Her job entails delivering pre-packed meals to air crew and hotel guests. She does not interact with diners at Azur.
She developed symptoms while at work on 3 January, and sought medical treatment at a general practitioner clinic on 5 January where she was tested for COVID-19 under our enhanced community testing to test all individuals aged 13 and above who are diagnosed with acute respiratory infection (ARI) at first presentation to a doctor. Her result came back positive for COVID-19 infection the next day, and she was conveyed in an ambulance to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.
Her serological test result has come back negative, indicating that this is likely a current infection. Preliminary investigations reveal that she is probably not infected with the B117 strain. Her earlier tests from Rostered Routine Testing (RRT) – the last being on 31 December – had been negative for COVID-19 infection.
Case 59069 is a 63 year-old male Singaporean who works as a cargo operator at AirMark Aviation (S) Pte Ltd, and is based at Dnata Cargo Centre (45 Airport Cargo Road). He mainly handles loading and unloading of cargo for My Indo Airlines, and does not interact with flight passengers.
He developed ARI symptoms on 4 January, and sought treatment at Changi General Hospital on 6 January. He was confirmed to be positive for COVID-19 infection on the same day, and was warded. His serological test result is pending. Prior to hospitalisation, he had gone to work after symptoms onset.
In addition, there are 31 imported cases.
Amongst the 31 imported cases 4 (Cases 59040, 59056, 59057 and 59060) are Singaporeans and 3 (Cases 59064, 59065 and 59068) are Singapore Permanent Residents who returned from India, Indonesia, UAE, US and UK.
3 (Cases 59038, 59063 and 59066) are Dependant’s Pass holders who arrived from India.
2 (Cases 59035 and 59037) are Work Pass holders who arrived from India and UAE.
19 are Work Permit holders who arrived from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and Myanmar, of whom 12 (Cases 59045, 59046, 59047, 59048, 59049, 59050, 59051, 59052, 59053, 59054, 59058 and 59061) are foreign domestic workers.
All cases, except Case 59042, had been placed on SHN upon arrival in Singapore and were tested while serving SHN.
Case 59042 arrived from Bangladesh on 22 December, however, could not clear immigration due to incomplete documentation. He was held at a facility located at the airport’s transit area until 24 December, when the issues were resolved, and subsequently conveyed to a dedicated SHN facility.
Closure of Crowne Plaza Changi Airport
MOH is investigating 2 recent unlinked cases (Cases 59028and 59059) who work at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport. From its preliminary investigations, the authority cannot exclude that transmissions could have occurred at the hotel.
As a precautionary measure, Crowne Plaza Changi Airport will be closed for 14 days from 8 January to 21 January 2021. The hotel will stop accepting new guests, and foreign air crew and guests currently staying at the hotel will be checked out progressively. Incoming air crew will be housed in alternative facilities. Restaurant and event spaces within the hotel will also be closed.
During its closure, deep cleaning and disinfection will be carried out by the hotel, in consultation with MOH and the National Environment Agency. MOH has also commenced a special testing operations to test all staff working at the hotel for COVID-19 infection.
Update on condition of confirmed cases
21 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 58,562 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.
There are currently 61 confirmed cases who are still in the hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and 1 is in critical condition in the intensive care unit. 161 are isolated and cared for at community facilities. These are those who have mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19.
29 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection.