3 workers at Changi Airport among 7 new Covid-19 community cases on May 8

SINGAPORE - Three men working at Changi Airport were among seven new Covid-19 community cases reported on Saturday (May 8).

As a precaution, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said it will test all staff working at Changi Airport Terminal 1 and Terminal 3, and Jewel.

The first case is a 57-year-old aviation officer who screens departing and transiting passengers at Changi Airport Terminals 1 and 3.

The Singaporean was tested for Covid-19 as part of rostered routine testing (RRT) on Wednesday and developed a sore throat in the evening but did not seek medical treatment, said MOH. He went to work the next day, and his sore throat worsened.

On Friday, his pooled test result came back positive and an individual swab taken also tested positive on the same day. His earlier tests from RRT - the last being on April 23 - were all negative for the virus. His serology test result is pending, said MOH.

The second case is a 47-year-old cleaner who works for Ramky Cleantech Services and was deployed at Changi Airport Terminal 3.

The work permit holder is asymptomatic and was detected as part of RRT on Wednesday. He was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) where an individual test was done.

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His test result came back positive on Friday. His earlier tests from RRT - the last being on April 21 - were all negative for Covid-19. The ministry has assessed that his case is likely a recent infection despite his positive serology test.

The cleaner had received his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine on Jan 29 and the second dose on Feb 19.

The third employee at Changi Airport is a 33-year-old safety coordinator who works for Shimizu Corporation. He is deployed at Terminal 3 but does not interact with passengers.

He was tested for Covid-19 as part of RRT on Tuesday. He developed a fever after work on Wednesday and sought medical treatment at a general practitioner clinic the next day, where he was tested for Covid-19.

His test result came back positive on Friday, as did his RRT pooled test result, and he was conveyed to NCID. His serology test result has come back negative, MOH said.

The fourth case is a part-time GrabFood delivery man who also works in the maritime sector. The 40-year-old Singaporean also works for Batamindo Shipping & Warehousing as an operations assistant at Keppel Distripark.

His earlier tests from RRT - the last being on 14 March - were all negative for Covid-19 infection. His serology test result has come back positive, which suggests past infection, but the Health Ministry has assessed that this is likely a recent infection.

He had not been at Pasir Panjang Terminal and his case is unlinked, MOH said.

The fifth case is a 18-year-old Victoria Junior College student who was last in school on Wednesday.

All the five cases are unlinked.

The remaining two community cases are linked to the Pasir Panjang Terminal cluster, taking the case tally for the cluster to eight.

They are family members and household contacts of three previous cases linked to the cluster. They were quarantined on Wednesday after being identified as close contacts of a trailer truck driver who works at Pasir Panjang Terminal and Brani Terminal.

One of them is a car mechanic who visits Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) camps but he does not interact with SAF personnel, said MOH.

Separately, the Ministry of Defence said on Saturday night (May 8) that he last visited Clementi Camp on Tuesday. He had minimal contact with SAF personnel, none of whom has been identified as a close contact.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has risen from 37 in the week before to 43 in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has remained stable at 10 per week in the past two weeks.

There were also 13 imported cases, taking Singapore’s total number of Covid-19 cases to 61,331.

With six cases discharged on Saturday, 60,897 patients have fully recovered from the disease.

A total of 133 patients remain in hospital, including two in critical condition in the intensive care. Another 255 patients are recuperating in community facilities.

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