SINGAPORE — Six additional cases of the Wuhan coronavirus were confirmed by the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Tuesday (4 February), four of whom are the country’s first confirmed cases of local transmission.

This brings the total tally of confirmed cases to 24, making Singapore the country with the second highest number of such cases outside mainland China, behind Thailand.

Three of the locally transmitted cases can be traced to contact with recent travellers from mainland China, while the fourth is a close contact of one of the three cases, said MOH at a media briefing chaired by a multi-ministry taskforce on the virus on Tuesday.

The other two cases are from a group of 92 Singaporeans who were evacuated from Wuhan, where the virus originated, last Thursday.

“Though four of these cases constitute a local transmission cluster, there is as yet no evidence of widespread sustained community transmission in Singapore,” said the ministry.

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong stressed, “This is a scenario that we have prepared for and we are ready to manage it. As the situation evolves, we will step up our posture accordingly.”

View photos Yong Thai Hang at 24 Cavan Road. (SCREENCAP: Google Maps) More

Two colleagues, tour guide among locally-transmitted cases

One of the four locally-transmitted cases is a 28-year-old female Singapore permanent resident who works at Yong Thai Hang at 24 Cavan Road, a complementary health products shop that primarily serves Chinese tourists.

She reported developing sore throat and fever last Wednesday (29 January) and sought treatment at a general practitioner clinic on the same day.

She went to Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s emergency department the next day, and was discharged when her chest x-ray came back negative for pneumonia.

She reported that she had not left her home at Jalan Bukit Merah from 31 January to 2 February.

On Monday, she went to Singapore General Hospital (SGH) and was diagnosed with pneumonia. She was later classified as a suspect case and was immediately isolated.

Her results came back positive for the virus on Monday, past 11pm, and she is currently warded in an insolation room at the hospital.

The other case is a 48-year-old female Singaporean, a colleague of the 28-year-old, who resides at Hougang Street 61.

She reported the onset of symptoms on 25 January. On Monday, she went to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) and was classified as a suspect case and immediately isolated. She tested positive for the virus on Tuesday morning.

The third case is a 44-year-old female Indonesian national, a foreign domestic worker who works for the 28-year-old and resides at the same place.

She reported the onset of symptoms on Sunday and was admitted to the SGH emergency department the next day.

She tested positive for the virus on Tuesday afternoon and remains warded in an insolation room at the hospital. She reported that she has not left her place of residence since the onset of symptoms.

The fourth case, a 32-year-old female Singaporean, is a tour guide who had brought tour groups to Yong Thai Hang where two of the locally-transmitted cases work.

On Monday, she was asymptomatic when she went to the NCID, where she is currently warded in an insolation room. She was confirmed to have the infection on Tuesday afternoon.

While she had previously reported that she was asymptomatic when she went to the NCID, she subsequently informed the NCID on the night of her test results that she had developed a fever earlier last Thursday

Prior to her hospital admission, she stayed at her home at Buangkok Green and worked at Jalan Besar. She visited Hougang Polyclinic last Thursday and went to a supermarket near her home.

“The four cases of local transmission were identified as a result of enhanced surveillance at our hospitals,” said the MOH.

“Three of the four cases can be traced to contact with recent travellers from mainland China, and prolonged interactions with these travellers. Pending confirmation from the Chinese authorities, the travellers are from Guangxi, and at least two have been confirmed with 2019-nCoV infection,” the ministry added.

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