Coronavirus: Singapore

S'porean, 95, dies of Covid-19; new cluster in Sengkang with 7 cases

A 95-year-old Singaporean died of Covid-19 complications yesterday.

She was confirmed as having the virus on May 17 when she was warded at Changi General Hospital for an unrelated medical condition, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said yesterday.

She had not been vaccinated, and had a history of cancer, hypertension and hypothyroidism, where the thyroid does not produce enough hormones.

Changi General Hospital has reached out to her family and is extending assistance to them, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, five of the 19 community cases yesterday were linked to a new cluster at NTUC Foodfare at 308 Anchorvale Road in Sengkang.

Investigations point to likely ongoing transmission at the coffee shop.

The coffee shop was closed to the public yesterday and will reopen on June 13, to break any potential chain of transmission and for deep cleaning, said MOH.

The ministry will offer free Covid-19 testing to people who had visited the coffee shop from May 13 to May 30, to "pre-emptively mitigate potential risk of wider, undetected community transmission".

They are advised to monitor their health closely for two weeks from their visit, and are encouraged to visit a regional screening centre or a Swab and Send Home (Sash) Public Health Preparedness Clinic for a free Covid-19 test.

There are now seven cases in the cluster.

A 21-year-old Vietnamese man who works as a kitchen assistant at the Hua Zai HK Style Roasted Delight Rice Noodle stall at the coffee shop was among the five new cases linked to the cluster yesterday.

He is a household contact of several other cases in the cluster.

His colleague, a 27-year-old Malaysian man, who is also a household contact of other cases in the cluster, also tested positive. He developed a loss of taste on Friday but did not seek medical attention.

He was quarantined on Saturday as he had been identified as a household contact of Case 63,853 - a 33-year-old Malaysian man who works as a kitchen assistant at Hua Zai Eating House.

The 27-year-old tested positive for Covid-19 yesterday, and he developed a cough on the same day.

Two of the new cases are the men's household contacts and they work as kitchen assistants at Hua Zai HK Style Roasted Delights at 21, Hougang Street 51.

The remaining case is a 29-year-old chef at Rice Garden at 308, Anchorvale Road. He is a close contact of two of the men.

He developed a cough and fever on Friday and sought medical treatment at a general practitioner's clinic that day, where he was tested for Covid-19. His test came back positive the next day.

MOH also announced another new cluster - linked to a 67-year-old Singaporean man who is a retiree and was confirmed to have Covid-19 last Wednesday.

The three new cases in the cluster are all household contacts of the man.

There are now 39 open clusters.

There were also five unlinked community cases yesterday, as well as six 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 workers' dormitories were reported.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has fallen to 136 in the past week, from 182 two weeks ago. Unlinked cases in the community have also fallen to 25, from 39 over the same period.

  • Update on cases

  • New cases: 25

    In community: 19 (5 unlinked)

    In dormitories: 0

    Imported: 6

    New community cases in the past week: 136 (25 unlinked)

    Active cases: 561

    In hospitals: 222 (3 in ICU)

    In community facilities: 339

    Deaths: 33

    Total discharged: 61,419

    Discharged yesterday: 11

    TOTAL CASES: 62,028

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 31, 2021, with the headline S'porean, 95, dies of Covid-19; new cluster in Sengkang with 7 cases. Subscribe