SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Friday (27 March) identified 49 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore and a new cluster at SingPost Centre, taking the country’s total to 732.

This comes two days after the city-state reported a single-day high of 73 cases.

The ages for the 49 new cases ranged from as young as 1 year old to 77 years old. Of them, 22 are imported and 27 are local cases with no recent travel history abroad.

The 22 imported cases had travel history to Europe, North America, and South-East Asia. All except two were returning residents and long-term pass holders.

18 new cases are linked to clusters or previous patients, including:

two linked to the newest cluster at SingPost Centre at 10 Eunos Road 8

five linked to a cluster at Fengshan PAP Community Foundation (PCF) Sparkletots preschool at 126 Bedok North Street 2

three linked to a cluster Dover Court International School at 301 Dover Road

Contact tracing is ongoing for the nine remaining local transmissions with no established links, said the MOH.

3 employees linked to new SingPost Centre cluster

The newest cluster involved three employees working on the same floor at the packet-processing facility at SingPost Centre, a spokesperson confirmed.

A contract staff working at the facility tested positive for the virus on Wednesday, while two full-time staff working on the same floor tested positive for the virus two days later. The trio was working at a restricted packet-sorting area.

“This is despite SingPost’s strict health-screening and social distancing protocol for all contractors and staff members,” the spokesperson added.

“All employees working on the same floor as the confirmed cases have also been instructed to stay home until further notice, while contact tracing efforts are underway.”

Young children linked to Fengshan Sparkletots cluster

Among the five new cases linked to the preschool cluster are a 67-year-old female non-teaching staff member who was earlier already placed on quarantine.

The remaining four are young children: two-year-old, six-year-old and 13-year-old girls as well as an 11-year-old boy.

In total, 25 cases are linked to the preschool cluster, of which 16 are staff members, and nine – including the four young children – are family members of case 601, a 47-year-old Singaporean woman identified by the authorities on Wednesday as the centre’s principal.

The six-year-old girl is enrolled at PPIS Child Development Centre’s Bedok Reservoir branch, said an Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) spokesperson.

She was last at the centre on 11 March and was well then, added the spokesperson.

“As the child’s last contact with the PPIS Centre was 15 days before being tested positive, the PPIS Centre is not required to close for 14 days,” the ECDA spokesperson said.

The centre had cleaned and disinfected its premises on Wednesday and will close on Saturday for a further round of cleaning and disinfection.

Barring any new developments, the centre will resume operations on Monday, the spokesperson added.

Separately, a total of seven cases are linked to the cluster at Dover Court International School, of which six are staff members while one is a contact of a staff member.



View photos (SOURCE: MOH) More

View photos (SOURCE: MOH) More

View photos (SOURCE: MOH) More