Three visitors to Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), a pharmacist and one patient made up the five Covid-19 cases linked to Singapore's largest active cluster yesterday.
All of them were detected from the proactive testing of patients, visitors and staff at TTSH or their close contacts, and had already been placed on quarantine, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).
In total, 40 cases are now linked to the TTSH cluster.
Covid-19 cases in the community continue to rise, with the number of new cases increasing to 64 in the past week from 11 in the week before.
The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased to 10 cases in the past week from four cases in the week before.
Three of the cases had visited Ward 9D between April 18 and last Wednesday.
The remaining two cases are a TTSH pharmacist and a patient at Ward 9D.
The 25-year-old Singaporean pharmacist had interacted with patients and staff at Ward 9D on April 20.
He was last at work last Wednesday.
He developed a mild runny nose last Friday but this was resolved on the same day, said MOH.
Last Saturday, he was tested for Covid-19, and placed on quarantine on early Monday morning.
His result came back positive on the same day. His serology test result is pending.
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Update on cases
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New cases: 17
Imported: 12 (1 Singaporean, 2 permanent residents, 3 dependant's pass holders, 1 long-term visit pass holder, 1 student's pass holder, 1 work pass holder, 3 work permit holders)
In community: 5
In dormitories: 0
New community cases in the past week: 64 (10 unlinked cases)
Active cases: 398
In hospitals: 131 (2 in ICU)
In community facilities: 267
Deaths: 31
Patients with Covid-19 who died from other causes: 15
Total discharged: 60,808
Discharged yesterday: 17
TOTAL CASES: 61,252
The pharmacist had received his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine on Feb 25, and the second dose on March 18.
The patient is a 64-year-old Singaporean who had been warded in TTSH's Ward 9D last Monday, and was transferred to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases the next day.
His tests for Covid-19 last Wednesday and last Friday were negative.
On Sunday, he developed a cough and fever and was tested again for Covid-19 the next day.
Yesterday, his result came back positive. His serology test result is pending.
There were also 12 imported cases who had been placed on stay-home notice on arrival in Singapore.
This takes the tally of people infected here to 61,252.
With 17 cases discharged yesterday, 60,808 patients have fully recovered from the disease.
A total of 131 patients remain in hospital, including two in critical condition in the intensive care unit who are unrelated to the TTSH cluster.
Another 267 patients are recuperating in community facilities.
Singapore has had 31 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while 15 who tested positive had died of other causes.
