Singaporean working at Crowne Plaza tests positive for UK strain

Crowne Plaza Changi Airport has been closed for two weeks. ST PHOTOS: JOEL CHAN

A Singaporean man who works at Crowne Plaza Changi Air-port's Azur restaurant was among the two community cases linked to previous cases announced yesterday.

There were also 21 imported cases confirmed by the Ministry of Health (MOH), taking Singapore's total to 58,836.

The 20-year-old Singaporean is the third confirmed case at Azur.

He has tested preliminarily positive for the more infectious British strain of Covid-19.

He delivers pre-packed meals to air crew and hotel guests, and did not interact with diners at Azur.

His earlier tests from rostered routine testing - the last being on Jan 1 - were negative for Covid-19.

The Singaporean had been identified as a close contact of the Korean work permit holder reported on Wednesday and had been placed on quarantine on Tuesday at a quarantine facility.

He developed symptoms on Thursday, and was swabbed the same day.

His test came back positive for Covid-19, and he was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases in an ambulance.

His serological test result came back negative, indicating that this was likely a current infection.

Special testing operations at the hotel are under way, and 233 staff have been swabbed, said MOH. Of these, 129 test results are negative, and 104 test results are pending.

  • Update on cases

  • New cases: 23

    Imported: 21 (4 Singaporeans, 4 PRs, 1 dependant's pass holder, 1 student's pass holder, 2 work pass holders, 8 work permit holders, 1 short-term visit pass holder)

    In community: 2 (2 Singaporeans)

    In dormitories: 0

    New community cases in the past week: 8 (5 unlinked cases)

    Active cases: 227

    In hospitals: 61 (1 in ICU)

    In community facilities: 166

    Deaths: 29

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

    Total discharged: 58,565

    Discharged yesterday: 18

    TOTAL CASES: 58,836

The second community case is a 34-year-old harbour pilot at PSA Marine and the fifth case to be linked to the Singaporean harbour pilot who was confirmed to have Covid-19 on Dec 30.

He was placed on quarantine on Jan 1 at a quarantine facility after being identified as a close contact.

His swab on Sunday was negative for Covid-19, but another test taken on Thursday came back positive for the infection.

The Singaporean man was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital in an ambulance. He developed symptoms yesterday, and his serological test result is pending.

Tampines Mall and Gochi-So Shokudo restaurant at Tampines 1 were added to the list of places visited by Covid-19 patients while they were still infectious, added MOH.

With 18 cases discharged yesterday, 58,565 patients have fully recovered from the disease.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 09, 2021, with the headline Singaporean working at Crowne Plaza tests positive for UK strain. Subscribe