SINGAPORE: Five new cases of COVID-19 in Singapore have been confirmed, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Thursday (Mar 5), with a new cluster at SAFRA Jurong reported.

One of the new cases is an imported case while the rest are part of a cluster involving a private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong on Feb 15, said MOH in the media release.



MOH added that another four previously confirmed cases - cases 94, 96, 107 and 112 - are also linked to the dinner.

Case 96 is the 12-year-old Singaporean student at Raffles Institution who is a family member of Case 94.

To date, there are 117 cases of the coronavirus in Singapore.

Another two more patients - cases 71 and 98 - were also discharged, said MOH. This brings the total number of discharged cases to 81. Case 71 is linked to the Grace Assembly of God Church cluster, while Case 98 is linked to the Wizlearn Technologies cluster.



Of the 36 confirmed patients who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving. Seven are in critical condition in the intensive care unit, said MOH.



NEW CASES

CASE 113 - IMPORTED CASE

Case 113 is a 42-year-old French national who is a Singapore Work Pass holder. He has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions but had been in France, Portugal and the UK between Feb 8 and Mar 3.

He is currently warded in an isolation room at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).

He reported onset of symptoms on Mar 3 during his flight on Turkish Airlines from Istanbul to Singapore and went to NCID on Mar 4, where he tested positive.

Prior to hospital admission, he had visited Gleneagles Hospital for an unrelated matter. He lives in the Mount Sophia area.

Earlier on Thursday, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said that three pilots and 11 crew members who had arrived in Singapore onboard the Turkish Airlines flight - TK54 - departed for Istanbul at 2.08am on board a ferry flight with no passengers on the plane.

The crew members had come into close contact with the infected passenger and the crew will be quarantined when they arrive in Istanbul.





CASE 114 - SAFRA JURONG CLUSTER

Case 114 is a 62-year-old Singaporean man who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. He is warded in an isolation room at the National University Hospital (NUH).

He is a family member of Case 115, and is linked to the SAFRA Jurong cluster.

He reported onset of symptoms on Feb 28 and had sought treatment at a general practitioner (GP) clinic on Feb 29. He went to the emergency department at NUH on Mar 3 and tested postive on Mar 4 afternoon.

Prior to hospital admission, he had mostly stayed at his home in the Westwood Avenue area.

CASE 115 - SAFRA JURONG CLUSTER

Case 115 is a 62-year-old Singaporean woman who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions.

She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on Mar 5 morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at NUH.

She is a family member of Case 114 and is linked to the SAFRA Jurong cluster.

CASE 116 - SAFRA JURONG CLUSTER

Case 116 is a 50-year-old Singaporean woman also linked to the SAFRA Jurong cluster. She has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions.

She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on Mar 5 morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.

CASE 117 - SAFRA JURONG CLUSTER

Case 117 is a 52-year-old Singaporean woman who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions but had been in Malaysia on Mar 1. She is linked to the SAFRA Jurong cluster.

She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on Mar 5 morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.

CONFIRMED CASES HAD CLEARED MANDATORY TEMPERATURE TAKING: SAFRA

SAFRA said on Friday that the dinner function linked to the new cluster of cases was held at Joy Garden Restaurant on Feb 15.

The restaurant had been closed between Feb 16 and 19 for cleaning "as a hygiene practice", SAFRA said in a Facebook post.

As a precautionary measure, the restaurant - along with all other areas that the affected individuals might have been visited - will be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected again from Friday night, it added.

SAFRA said in a separate advisory note that it had installed additional precautionary measures after Singapore moved the Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) up a level to Orange on Feb 7.

The additional measures included mandatory temperature taking and declaration of travel history and contact details, increased cleaning and disinfection, the provision of hand sanitisers and health advisories.

The individuals who visited SAFRA on Feb 15 and later tested positive for COVID-19 had cleared the mandatory temperature checks conducted at the entrance of the club, SAFRA said.

"They did not have fever, nor exhibited any flu-like symptoms," said SAFRA.

"They also did not have any recent travel history to mainland China within the past 14 days of their visit to the club as stated within their declaration," it added.

SAFRA Jurong has provided the details of the attendees at the dinner function to MOH for contact tracing.

The club will continue to monitor the situation closely and take further appropriate actions, where necessary, it said.

"The safety and well-being of our NSmen and the community remain our utmost priority," SAFRA said.

UPDATES ON PREVIOUS CASES

MOH said that Case 112, a 62-year-old Singaporean woman who is an assistant cook at a pre-school, is also linked to the new cluster.

She reported onset of symptoms on Feb 21 and had sought treatment at Bukit Batok Polyclinic on the same day and on Feb 25, as well as three GP clinics on Feb 21, Feb 23, Feb 27 and Mar 1.

She went to work on Feb 21 at Creative O Preschoolers’ Bay at 31 International Business Park, but left the centre a few hours into her shift, and has not been back since.

According to the school, she comes in contact with "fewer than 20 children" in the early morning.

SINGAPORE MUST EXPECT "SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER NUMBERS" OF CASES

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong on Thursday said that Singapore “must expect to see significantly higher numbers" of new COVID-19 cases in time to come.

Mr Gan highlighted that the number of cases outside mainland China "continues to grow at an alarming rate across continents and regions".

"This is worrying as they pose a high risk of importation of cases into Singapore," he added.

Singapore currently blocks entry and transit for new visitors who travelled to Iran, northern Italy or South Korea within the last 14 days.

This was among the additional precautions announced on Tuesday to help reduce the risk of imported cases in Singapore.

Singapore Airlines on Thursday instructed the crew members who worked on a Milan-Singapore flight last week to go on a leave of absence, after a passenger tested postive for the coronavirus.

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