44-year-old man dies of Covid-19

Special testing operations will be conducted for all staff at the FairPrice outlet in Bukit Merah Central. PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM GOOGLE MAPS

SINGAPORE - A 44-year-old permanent resident died of complications from Covid-19 infection on Sunday, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Monday (June 21).

This brings Singapore's death toll from the coronavirus to 35.

The man was admitted to Alexandra Hospital on May 25 and was confirmed to have Covid-19 infection the next day.

"He had not been vaccinated against Covid-19, and had a history of diabetes mellitus," said MOH.

Alexandra Hospital has contacted his family and is extending assistance to them, added the ministry.

Meanwhile, special testing operations will be conducted for all staff at the FairPrice supermarket at 166 Bukit Merah Central, the ministry has said. This is to disrupt any undetected community transmission after cases of Covid-19 infection were found among people who had visited the supermarket.

"We will also extend free Covid-19 testing to members of the public who had visited FairPrice at 166 Bukit Merah Central between June 3 and 21," said MOH.

Five more people were added to the Bukit Merah View Market and Food Centre cluster, said MOH on Monday night. This brings the total number of cases in the cluster to 78.

The five new cases in the cluster were among 10 new linked cases announced on Monday.

There were also three unlinked cases and three imported cases confirmed on Monday, for a total of 16 new cases.

Among the unlinked cases is a 33-year-old woman who works as a nurse at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital but is not involved in direct patient care.

The woman, a permanent resident, was last at work last Thursday, and developed a sore throat and runny nose last Friday before seeking medical treatment at a clinic the next day.

She underwent an antigen rapid test (ART) and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. Her ART result was negative for Covid-19, but her PCR test result came back positive on Sunday.

"Her earlier tests from rostered routine testing (RRT) - the last being on June 7 - were negative for Covid-19 infection," said the ministry.

Her serology test result, which determines how recent an infection is likely to be, is pending.

The ministry added that she received her first vaccine dose on Jan 13 and the second dose on Feb 4.

The two other unlinked cases are a 29-year-old Foodpanda delivery rider and a 38-year-old Filipino foreign domestic worker.

The delivery rider developed a fever and headache on Sunday. He sought medical treatment at a GP clinic the same day and was administered both an ART and a PCR test.

The man was immediately isolated when his ART result came back positive for Covid-19. His PCR test result also came back positive for Covid-19 infection the next day. His serology test result is pending.

The foreign domestic worker developed a fever, cough and sore throat last Friday. She sought medical treatment at a GP clinic on Sunday, and was administered both an ART and a PCR test.

She was immediately isolated when her ART result came back positive. Her PCR test result also came back positive for Covid-19 infection on Sunday. Her serology test result is pending.

Among the cases added to the Bukit Merah View cluster is a 71-year-old male Singaporean who is a retiree.

He is a family member and household contact of a case confirmed last Friday and a close contact of another who was diagnosed on June 14.

The man was placed on quarantine the same day and he underwent Covid-19 testing the next day.

His test result came back negative last Wednesday, but he developed a fever last Saturday and reported his symptoms.

He underwent both an ART and a PCR test the same day. His test results came back positive for Covid-19 infection on Sunday, said the ministry.

The ministry also said his serology test result was negative, indicating that the infection was recent. The ministry added the man received his first vaccine dose on March 9.

The 16 confirmed cases as at noon on Monday take Singapore's total to 62,430, said the ministry.

The 10 linked cases consist of five cases that had already been placed on quarantine and five that were detected through surveillance.

The three imported cases are Singaporeans or permanent residents and had already been placed on stay-home notice upon arrival in Singapore.

There were no new cases from workers' dormitories, marking a week since the last dormitory case was confirmed on June 14.

The weekly total number of community cases was 103 in the past week, up from 49 in the previous week. The number of unlinked cases in the past week was 20, up from 15 cases in the week before.

There are currently 38 active clusters of infection, up from 37 on Sunday. Two new clusters were declared at 119 Bukit Merah View and 121 Bukit Merah View, and one cluster that started with a 59-year-old woman who tested positive on May 19 was closed as there were no new cases linked to it for 28 days.

As at noon on Monday, 134 patients remained hospitalised, none of whom was in critical condition in the intensive care unit, while 191 were recuperating in community facilities.

Singapore has had 35 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while 15 who tested positive have died of other causes.

Read the full MOH press release here.

Correction note: This story has been updated for accuracy.

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.