Tan Tock Seng Hospital cluster: 88-year-old patient dies from Covid-19 complications

SINGAPORE - An 88-year-old Singaporean woman, who was a Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) patient, died from Covid-19 complications on Saturday (May 1).

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Saturday night the woman, case 62573, had been warded in Ward 9D from April 14, and was confirmed to have Covid-19 on April 28.

She had a history of cancer, hypertension, congestive cardiac failure, stroke and hyperlipidaemia.

The National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) has contacted her family.

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Student tests positive

Separately, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said that Edgefield Secondary School will shift to home-based learning (HBL) next week, after one of its students tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday (April 30).

The 15-year-old was listed in MOH's nightly virus update as case 62690.

She developed a sore throat on April 28, and a runny nose and loss of smell the next day. She reported sick while she was in school on April 29, and sought medical treatment at a General Practitioner (GP) clinic, where she was tested for Covid-19.

Her test result came back positive the next day, and she was taken to the National University Hospital in an ambulance. Her serological test result is pending.

MOE said students, staff and external vendors who had been in close contact with her will be placed under quarantine, and the school premises will be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.

All other students, staff and external vendors will need to be swabbed for the coronavirus.

MOE said the move to full HBL from May 4 to May 7 is because it would take time to complete and receive the results of the Covid-19 swab tests. May 3 is a school holiday.

MOE urged all students and staff to continue practising good personal hygiene and adhering to safe management measures.

Other local cases

There were six other community cases announced on Saturday.

- Case 62685 is a 19-year-old Permanent Resident studying at the Singapore Management University (SMU). MOH said she has been attending classes virtually, except for a physical visit to SMU on April 21.

She arrived from India on Dec 28 and served her stay-home notice (SHN) at a dedicated facility.

She had been identified as a close contact of Case 58784 during their flight to Singapore, and was placed on quarantine from Dec 29 to Jan 11.

She tested negative on Jan 8, but was detected when she took a pre-departure swab on April 28 for a trip. She was asymptomatic at the time, and was brought to Changi General Hospital when her result came back positive the next day.

MOH said her Ct value was very high, which is indicative of a low viral load, and her serology test result has come back positive, indicating that this is likely a past infection.

MOH added: "She could be shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA from a past infection which are no longer transmissible and infective to others, but given that we are not able to definitively conclude when she had been infected, we will take all the necessary public health actions as a precautionary measure."

- The next case, 62686, is a Malaysian woman, 22, who works as a spa therapist at Spa 9 in Holland Drive.

She developed a runny nose on April 28 and sought medical treatment at a GP clinic, where she was tested for Covid-19.

Her test result came back positive the next day and her serological test result has come back negative, indicating this is likely a current infection.

- Case 62688 is a 50-year-old Permanent Resident who works as a manager at DIC Asia Pacific in Shenton Way, but had only gone to work on April 26 and 27 in the last month.

She had been in Japan from March 13 to April 9, and served SHN upon her return to Singapore at a dedicated facility until April 23. She tested negative on April 22.

However, she developed body aches on April 27 and a fever the next day, and sought medical treatment at a GP clinic on April 29, where she was tested. Her test result came back positive the next day, and she was taken to NCID.

Her serological test result has come back negative, indicating this is likely a current infection.

TTSH cluster

The last three community cases are linked to the TTSH cluster.

- Case 62680 is an 86-year-old Singaporean woman whose spouse had been warded in TTSH Ward 9D from April 20 to 22.

She sought medical treatment for an unrelated condition at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital on April 30, and was found to have a fever. She tested positive the same day. Her serological test result is pending.

- Case 62687 is a 70-year-old Singaporean man who was admitted to TTSH Ward 9D on April 22.

He tested negative on April 28 while warded at TTSH as part of its testing of staff and patients who have been in the affected wards.

He was transferred to NCID the same day. Two days later, he developed fever and shortness of breath, and was tested again. This time, his test result came back positive. His serology test result has come back negative.

- Case 62697 is a 74-year-old Singaporean woman who had been warded in TTSH Ward 9D from April 23 to April 27.

She was quarantined on April 29, and tested for Covid-19 the next day. Her test result came back positive on May 1 and she was taken NCID. Her serological test result is pending.

There are 16 cases linked to the TTSH cluster, the largest of nine active clusters in Singapore.

Dormitory cases

Two cases were also reported in the dormitories.

- The first, case 62691, is a 35-year-old Work Permit holder from Myanmar, who arrived in Singapore in January 2020.

He works as a stevedore at Pasir Panjang Terminal and Brani Terminal and lives at Pasir Panjang Residence in Harbour Drive.

He is asymptomatic, and was detected when he was tested on April 28 as part of Rostered Routine Testing (RRT). His test result came back positive the same day.

The worker had received his first dose of the vaccine on Jan 14, and the second dose on Feb 3.

- The second dormitory case is Case 62684, a 23-year-old Indian Work Permit holder who arrived in Singapore in December 2020.

He works as a stevedore at Pasir Panjang Terminal, and also lives at Pasir Panjang Residence.

He is asymptomatic, and was detected when he was tested on April 29 as part of active case-finding following the detection of Case 62691.

He tested positive the next day, but his earlier tests from RRT - the last being on April 28 - were all negative. He received his first dose of the vaccine on Jan 30, and the second on Feb 22.

Imported cases

Twenty-five imported cases were also reported on Saturday night.

- Five are Singaporeans and four are Permanent Residents who had returned from Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Britain and the United States.

- Five others are Dependant's Pass holders who arrived from India and Nepal. Four are Work Pass holders from these two locations.

- Another four are foreign domestic workers who arrived from Indonesia and the Philippines, and are work permit holders.

- Two are Short-Term Visit Pass holders who arrived from the Philippines.

- The last case is a Special Pass holder who is a sea crew from India.

All the imported cases had all already been placed on SHN or isolated upon arrival in Singapore and were tested while serving SHN or during isolation.

This takes Singapore's total number of infected to 61,213.

The number of new cases in the community increased from 11 in the week before to 37 cases in the past week.

The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from four cases in the week before to 10 cases in the past week.

With 14 cases discharged on Saturday, 60,750 patients have fully recovered from the disease.

A total of 111 patients remain in hospital, with none in intensive care, while 272 are recuperating in community facilities.

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

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