As of Friday noon (8 Jan), the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed an additional 23 cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore.
This brings the total number of infection cases to 58,836.
Amongst the new cases today, 18 are asymptomatic and were detected from screening and surveillance, while 5 were symptomatic.
There are two new cases of locally transmitted COVID-19 infection.
There are 2 cases in the community today who are linked to previous cases.
Case 59079 is a 34 year-old male Singaporean who works as a Harbour Pilot at PSA Marine Pte Ltd (70 West Coast Ferry Road). His work entails going onboard vessels to navigate them through congested waters. His earlier tests from Rostered Routine Testing (RRT) – the last being on 28 December – were negative for COVID-19 infection.
He had been identified as a close contact of Case 58817,a Singaporean who works as a Harbour Pilot and was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 30 December 2020.
Case 59079 was placed on quarantine on 1 January at a quarantine facility. His swab done on 3 January was negative for COVID-19. Another test taken on 7 January came back positive for COVID-19 infection and he was conveyed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital in an ambulance. He developed onset of symptoms on 8 January. His serological test result is pending.
Case 59084 is a 20 year-old male Singaporean who works at Azur at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport (75 Airport Boulevard). His job entails delivering pre-packed meals to air crew and hotel guests. He does not interact with diners at Azur. His earlier tests from RRT – the last being on 1 January – were negative for COVID-19 infection.
He had been identified as a close contact of Case 59028, a Work Permit holder who works at Azur at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport and was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 5 January.
He was placed on quarantine on 5 January at a quarantine facility. He developed acute respiratory infection (ARI) symptoms on 7 January, and was swabbed on the same day. His test came back positive for COVID-19 infection and he was conveyed to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases in an ambulance.
His serological test result has come back negative, indicating that this is likely a current infection. He has also tested preliminarily positive for the B117 strain, and is pending further confirmatory tests.
In addition, there are 21 new imported cases, who had been placed on Stay-Home Notice upon arrival in Singapore.
Amongst the 21 imported cases 4 (Cases 59072, 59073,59074 and 59091) are Singaporeans and 4 (Cases 59075, 59080, 59081 and 59090) are Singapore Permanent Residents who returned from India, Indonesia and the UAE.
1 (Case 59071) is a Dependant’s Pass holder who arrived from the UAE.
1 (Case 59077) is a Student’s Pass holder who arrived from India.
2 (Cases 59070 and 59087) are Work Pass holders who arrived from India.
8 are Work Permit holders who arrived from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and Malaysia, of whom 4 (Cases 59078, 59093, 59094 and 59095) are foreign domestic workers
1 (Case 59083) is a Short-Term Visit Pass holder who arrived from India to visit her spouse who is a Singapore Permanent Resident.
Investigations into cases at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport
MOH noted that it is investigating 3 COVID-19 cases (Cases 59028, 59059 and 59084) 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 has been closed for 14 days from 8 January to 21 January 2021, including its restaurant and event spaces.
MOH has commenced a special testing operations to test 234 staff working at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport for COVID-19 infection. So far, 233 hotel staff have been swabbed. Of these, 129 test results have been processed, and all of them have come back negative for COVID-19 infection. 104 test results are pending.
Update on condition of confirmed cases
18 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 58,580 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. 166 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.