Coronavirus: Singapore
3 more preliminarily test positive for Omicron, including 2nd airport worker
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Three more people have preliminarily tested positive for the Omicron variant of the virus that causes Covid-19, including another airport front-line worker, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) yesterday. The other two are imported cases.
Changi Airport Group told The Straits Times yesterday that it is ramping up precautionary measures at the airport to reduce the spread of the virus. This includes getting front-line airport staff to take a daily antigen rapid test for a week, on top of their routine testing.
"Since news of the new Omicron variant surfaced, we have stepped up the personal protective equipment requirements for staff handling transfer passengers," said Mr Alan Tan, senior vice-president at Changi Airport Group.
"The close contacts of the passenger service staff who had tested positive for the Omicron variant have been placed under close monitoring."
Of the three who tested preliminarily positive for the Omicron variant yesterday, the local case is a 38-year-old man who works at Changi Airport Terminal 3.
There are no known links with the earlier reported case who is also a Changi Airport passenger service staff member, MOH said.
The 38-year-old is the second worker at the airport to test positive for the variant. The first case was a 24-year-old worker, which MOH announced on Thursday.
The other two cases are passengers returning from Britain on the same vaccinated travel lane flight.
MOH said all three are fully vaccinated and asymptomatic, and recovering in isolation wards at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID). The ministry added that it is ring-fencing the cases through contact tracing.
Mr Tan said stringent safety protocols continue to be in place for the health and safety of the airport community. "Staff serving passengers in the transit areas are required to be fully vaccinated, and to don the necessary level of personal protective equipment."
He added: "With the evolving Covid-19 pandemic, Changi Airport continues to monitor the situation on the ground closely and adapts its safety measures to protect airport staff."
