4 workers at Changi Airport, 3 TTSH patients among new Covid-19 cases on May 9

SINGAPORE - Four of the 10 new community cases announced on Sunday (May 9) are people who work at Changi Airport Terminal 3.

They are linked to an 88-year-old cleaner deployed at Changi Airport Terminal 3 and was confirmed to have Covid-19 infection on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Sunday night that three other community cases are linked to the Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) cluster, while the remaining three are currently unlinked.

There are currently eight people linked to the Changi Airport cluster.

One of the four new cases who works at Changi Airport Terminal 3 is a 51-year-old work permit holder who is employed by Ramky Cleantech Services as a cleaner.

She had last gone to work on May 3 and was tested on May 5 as part of rostered routine testing (RRT) but her pooled test result came back inconclusive, and she was tested again on Friday.

Identified as a colleague of the 88-year-old cleaner, she was contacted by MOH and placed on phone surveillance. That night, she developed a cough and headache.

On Saturday, her test result came back positive for Covid-19, and she was sent in an ambulance to Gleneagles Hospital.

She has tested preliminarily positive for the B1617 variant, and is pending further confirmatory tests.

[[nid:528363]]

The second patient is an auxiliary police officer at Changi Airport Terminal 3.

The 57-year-old Singaporean man is employed by Certis Cisco and his job entails maintaining crowd control and checking of travellers' documents. He had not gone to work since he started showing symptoms.

He developed a cough on Friday and tested positive on Saturday.

He has tested preliminarily positive for the B1617 variant. He has had both doses of Covid-19 vaccine.

The third case is a trolley handler and cleaner, 63, with Ramky Cleantech Services.

He developed a sore throat on Monday and cough on Thursday but did not seek medical treatment.

On Saturday, he developed a runny nose and sought medical treatment at a general practitioner clinic, where he was tested for Covid-19.

As he had been identified as a colleague of the 88-year-old cleaner, he was placed on quarantine on the same day. He reported his symptoms, and was taken to a hospital for assessment. His test result came back positive on Saturday and he was taken in an ambulance to Sengkang General Hospital.

He has also received both doses of the vaccine.

The final new case linked to the Changi Airport cluster is a 66-year-old Singaporean man who works as a SATS passenger escort at Changi Airport Terminal 3.

He developed a runny nose and sore throat on Saturday and tested positive on Sunday. His serological test result is pending and he has been fully vaccinated.

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/changiairport/photos/a.119476558597/10159647215648598/?__cft__[0]=AZXROMOEUAA3mdFgKuVJgUiUMsglBcpyFNkIZ[/embed]

Three more Covid-19 cases were linked to the cluster involving a nurse at Tan Tock Seng Hospital's (TTSH) Ward 9D. The cluster now has a total of 43 confirmed cases linked to it.

They are two men, 52 and 90, and a woman, 78, who were all patients in Ward 9D. The 52-year-old man and the 78-year-old woman had been discharged from hospital and tested positive for Covid-19 while in quarantine. 

The three unlinked cases comprise a Grab driver, 38; a risk assessment personnel at Lendlease, 40, and a landscaper with National Parks Board (NParks), 47.

The Grab driver developed a fever and cough on May 7 and tested positive for Covid-19 the next day. He has tested preliminarily positive for the B1617 variant. He had not worked since the onset of symptoms. 

They all tested positive on May 8.

There are now 11 open clusters.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has fallen from 50 in the week before to 39 in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has risen from 10 cases in the week before to 13 in the past week.

There were also 18 imported cases, taking Singapore's total number of Covid-19 cases to 61,359.

With 21 cases discharged on Sunday, 60,918 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 262 patients are recuperating in community facilities.

Singapore has had 31 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while 15 who tested positive have died of other causes.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.