The MINDSville@Napiri cluster has grown to 27 cases after the Ministry of Health (MOH) yesterday announced four new cases, with 22 others having preliminarily tested positive for Covid-19.
The four new cases at the home for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities comprise a 30-year-old nursing aide and three residents aged between 47 and 64. All have been fully vaccinated and were symptomatic.
The nursing aide and one of the residents were close contacts of the index case reported on Tuesday. They were quarantined on the same day, said MOH.
The index case is a 37-year-old female resident who developed symptoms last Saturday and had a fever the next day. She was sent to a polyclinic on Monday and her test came back positive the same day.
In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said that upon confirmation of the results, the home immediately took additional measures to ensure the health and well-being of residents and staff. All 255 residents and staff were tested as well.
The other cases were asymptomatic and were discovered through proactive testing. Those with symptoms were promptly isolated, while awaiting their swab test results.
MSF said the home has halted all admissions and discharges. It is not admitting visitors and has completed a thorough cleaning and disinfection of its premises.
These were on top of measures that had been put in place earlier, including organising residents into cohorts, splitting staff teams, and restricting resident cohorts and staff teams to pre-designated zones within the home, MSF added.
All other residents, staff and other close contacts, including clients, visitors and vendors, have been placed on quarantine, and will be regularly tested during quarantine. MSF said it is working closely with the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (Minds) to ensure the safety and well-being of residents.
MSF said 91 per cent of the home's staff and residents were inoculated during vaccination exercises in February and March.
MINDSville@Napiri is managed by Minds under SG Enable and funded by MSF. Since the start of phase two (heightened alert) on May 16, the home has further reduced the number of pre-registered visitors per resident allowed into the premises from four to two. Staff who care for those in isolation rooms have to wear full personal protective equipment.
The six-storey complex in Hougang, which serves 112 residents, comprises a home and hostel for adults with intellectual disabilities, a children's wing, and a training and development centre.
Residents of the home are aged six and above.
Among the five unlinked cases announced yesterday by MOH, one case is a fully vaccinated healthcare assistant at Grace Lodge, a nursing home for the needy, people with disabilities, and the aged sick.
The 22-year-old female Myanmar national was asymptomatic and was detected when she was tested on Monday as part of surveillance testing of nursing home staff.
In late April last year, a cluster emerged in Acacia Home - a welfare home in Admiralty for the destitute - with at least 15 cases.
The first nursing home to report Covid-19 infections was Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home in Thomson Lane on April 1 last year.
