S'porean administrator at engineering firm is sole reported Covid-19 community case

The patient developed a fever, chills, nausea and gastric pain on Feb 15 and was later tested for Covid-19 and isolated. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

SINGAPORE - A 59-year-old Singaporean woman who works in an administrative role at engineering company Aibel was the sole community case of Covid-19 reported on Wednesday (Feb 17), said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

She has been working from home since March last year, and all people identified as close contacts of hers, including family members, have been isolated and put under quarantine, added MOH.

She developed an itchy throat on Feb 4 and went to a GP, where she was given five days of medical leave and told to return for a follow-up consultation and a Covid-19 test if she failed to recover after three days.

She informed her doctor on Feb 6 that she felt better, but subsequently developed a fever, chills, nausea and gastric pain on Feb 15.

She went to the Sengkang General Hospital for treatment and was tested for Covid-19 and isolated. Her test result came back positive the next day.

There were also 10 imported cases confirmed by MOH for a total of 11 cases reported on Wednesday, bringing Singapore's total up to 59,821.

Of these 11, nine were asymptomatic when tested while two were symptomatic.

The 10 imported cases arrived in Singapore from India, Indonesia and Malaysia.

They were all tested while serving their stay-home notice, said MOH.

The number of new cases in the community increased from four cases two weeks ago to six in the past week.

The number of unlinked cases in the community in a week decreased from four cases to three over the same period.

With 15 cases discharged on Wednesday, 59,661 patients have fully recovered from the disease.

A total of 25 patients remain in hospital, including one in the intensive care unit, while 91 are recuperating in community facilities.

Singapore has had 29 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while 15 who tested positive have died of other causes.

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