5 family members of infected Changi Business Park cleaning supervisor among new Covid-19 cases

There are 17 cases in the cluster involving Hong Ye Group cleaners who work at Changi Business Park. PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM GOOGLE MAPS

SINGAPORE - Four children and a woman who are family members of an infected cleaning supervisor were among eight new coronavirus cases linked to the Hong Ye Group cluster on Saturday (May 29).

The new cases from the same household are an eight-month-old girl, a one-year-old boy, two girls – aged seven and nine – who are pupils of Boon Lay Garden Primary School and a 32-year-old housewife.

They are family members of a 30-year-old Singaporean man employed by Hong Ye Group as a cleaning supervisor at Changi Business Park. His infection was confirmed on May 23.

The Hong Ye Group cluster now has 17 cases.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Saturday that the eight-month-old girl does not attend any childcare facility. The one-year-old boy attends Little Explorers Cove @ Boon Lay and was last at the centre last month.

The two primary school pupils were last in school on May 18.

The children and the housewife were identified as close contacts of the cleaning supervisor and were quarantined last Monday.

MOH said the housewife developed a fever last Sunday but did not seek medical attention.

The infant girl developed a fever the next day, the two primary school pupils had a fever last Wednesday, and the one-year-old boy had a fever last Thursday. Their symptoms were not reported.

The five cases were tested for Covid-19 last Thursday during quarantine, and the results came back positive the next day. Their serology test results are pending.

A third primary school pupil is also linked to the Hong Ye Group cluster. Aged 13, she is from Xinghua Primary School and was last in school on May 18.

The remaining two new patients who were added to the cluster were a 58-year-old Singaporean housewife from the same household as another Hong Ye Group cleaner who had tested positive last Wednesday; and a 47-year-old Singaporean part-time cleaner who works at Abba Maintenance Services.

Meanwhile, a 40-year-old Singaporean Rosyth School teacher was one of four unlinked community cases confirmed on Saturday. She was last in school on May 18.

She had a blocked nose last Tuesday and a runny nose last Wednesday, and sought medical treatment at a general practitioner’s clinic last Wednesday.

She underwent both an antigen rapid test (ART) and a polymerase chain reaction test the next day, and was immediately isolated when her ART result came back positive, MOH said. She had a fever on the day she was isolated.

She is fully vaccinated – she received her first jab on March 13 and her second on April 3.

The other unlinked cases were a 49-year-old executive at Eng Soon Chair and Table Hire Service who had been working from home; a 33-year-old Malaysian kitchen assistant at Hua Zai Eating House; and a 23-year-old Malaysian cook at West Grill Station (Anchorvale).

MOH has also identified a new cluster after linking cases to a 49-year-old permanent resident who is a manager at Success Consultancy, taking the total number of cases in this cluster to four.

The three cases reported on Saturday that were added to the cluster are all Indian nationals. The three men sought medical treatment after developing symptoms, and their serology test results are pending.

One of the men also works at Success Consultancy, while the other two are an IT engineer at AXA Go Singapore and an engineer at GlobalFoundries.

There are now 37 open clusters.

Another Changi Prison Complex inmate was confirmed to have Covid-19 on Saturday, while two new patients were linked to the Jem and Westgate cluster, bringing the total number of cases in these clusters to 14 and 62 respectively.

The clusters linked to Chevy’s Bar and Bistro and McDonald’s delivery riders each had one new case, bringing their total number of cases to five and 19 respectively.

In all, MOH confirmed 23 community cases on Saturday.

There were 10 imported cases who had been placed on stay-home notice on arrival in Singapore, MOH said. Five of the imported cases are Singaporeans or permanent residents.

No new cases from within workers’ dormitories were reported.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has fallen from 199 two weeks ago to 138 in the past week. Unlinked cases in the community have also decreased from 48 to 23 over the same period.

Read the full MOH press release here.

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