Coronavirus: Cases in Singapore

Infected ex-employee visited 3 NTU eateries

He had not been on campus since last work day on Aug 28, was swabbed overseas

One community case and 14 imported cases were among the 75 new coronavirus cases announced by the Ministry of Health yesterday.
One community case and 14 imported cases were among the 75 new coronavirus cases announced by the Ministry of Health yesterday. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) yesterday confirmed that a former employee was on campus while infectious with Covid-19.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health (MOH) added three locations in the university to a list of places visited by coronavirus patients.

They were: Quad Cafe at NTU's School of Biological Sciences, Korean eatery Paik's Bibim at NTU's North Spine Plaza, and the North Spine Food Court.

In an advisory sent to students yesterday, NTU said the former employee's last working day was Aug 28, and he had not been on campus since.

He was not a member of the teaching staff, and did not show any symptoms while on campus and after he tested positive for the virus.

The university said he was swabbed when he landed at a foreign airport on Sept 1, and he informed NTU of his infection last Friday. It added that he did not know when or where he was exposed to the virus.

"We thank the former employee for informing us of his test results, and we wish him a speedy recovery," said the university.

NTU has worked with MOH to issue quarantine orders to all his close contacts.

"As a precautionary measure, we have carried out deep cleaning at the former employee's work areas," it added. "We have also stepped up cleaning of the affected common locations."

MOH yesterday also announced 75 new coronavirus cases.

  • Update on cases

  • New cases: 75

    Imported: 14 (2 Singaporeans, 7 PRs, 1 work pass holder, 3 work permit holders, 1 student's pass holder)

    In community: 1 (1 work permit holder)

    In dormitories: 60

    Active cases: 647

    In hospitals: 34 (0 in ICU)

    In community facilities: 613

    Deaths: 27

    Patients with Covid-19 who died of other causes: 15

    Total discharged: 56,477

    Discharged yesterday: 31

    TOTAL CASES: 57,166

Among them was a sole patient from the community. The 33-year-old Bangladeshi man, a work permit holder, was linked to a cluster at the Kenyon/UBS construction site in the Dhoby Ghaut area.

He was detected as a result of rostered routine testing of workers in the construction, marine and process sectors who live outside dormitories, even though he did not show symptoms.

Fourteen imported cases were also announced yesterday. They were placed on 14-day stay-home notice upon arrival here.

Two of them are Singaporeans - a six-year-old boy and a 79-year-old man who arrived from India.

Migrant workers living in dormitories made up the remaining 60 new coronavirus patients announced yesterday, taking Singapore's total to 57,166.

Of the 60 new dorm cases, 31 are from Westlite Toh Guan dormitory.

The average number of new daily cases in the community in a week has decreased from three cases two weeks ago to two in the past week.

The number of unlinked cases in the community in a week has also decreased from a daily average of two cases to one over the same period.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 10, 2020, with the headline Infected ex-employee visited 3 NTU eateries. Subscribe