Worker in Westlite dorm one of two local cases

A Bangladeshi worker staying in a different block at Westlite Woodlands dormitory from two earlier Covid-19 cases was one of the two locally transmitted cases announced yesterday.

The 35-year-old construction worker employed by Jenta Decoration Contractor did not interact with the other Bangladeshi worker and his roommate in the dormitory who tested positive for Covid-19 last week.

He does not typically interact with clients, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said.

The work permit holder had tested negative for the virus during his stay-home notice (SHN) period and rostered routine testing - the last of which was on April 20.

Last Thursday, he was quarantined as part of precautionary measures.

"He is asymptomatic but was tested for Covid-19 on April 23 during quarantine to determine his status," MOH said.

He tested positive for Covid-19, but another test conducted by the National Public Health Laboratory on Sunday was negative for the virus.

"His CT value was very high, and his serology test result has also come back positive," MOH said.

Based on his travel history to Bangladesh from Feb 17 last year to Dec 21, MOH added that he was likely to have been infected while he was overseas and "is shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA, which are no longer transmissible and infective to others".

The sole community case yesterday is a 19-year-old Singaporean who studies in Britain, MOH said.

She was there last year from Sept 11 to Dec 1, and reported that she developed acute respiratory infection symptoms in September but had not been tested for Covid-19.

New cases: 45

Imported: 43 (8 Singaporeans, 5 permanent residents, 4 dependant's pass holders, 3 student's pass holders, 6 work pass holders, 8 work permit holders, 1 short-term visit pass holder, 8 special pass holders)

In community: 1 (1 Singaporean)

In dormitories: 1

New community cases in the past week: 10 (4 unlinked cases)

Active cases: 339

In hospitals: 109 (0 in ICU)

In community facilities: 230

Deaths: 30

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

Total discharged: 60,667

Discharged yesterday: 20

TOTAL CASES: 61,051

Her previous test during SHN from Dec 1 to 14 came back negative for the virus. She is asym-ptomatic and was detected when she took a Covid-19 pre-departure test last Friday ahead of her trip back to Britain.

"Her CT value was very high, which is indicative of a low viral load, and her serology test result has come back positive," said MOH.

While she could be shedding minute fragments of the virus from a past infection which are no longer transmissible and infective to others, MOH said that it could not definitively conclude when she had been infected.

"We will take all the necessary public health actions as a pre-cautionary measure," the ministry added.

There were also 43 imported cases confirmed by MOH, taking Singapore's total to 61,051.

All of them had been placed on stay-home notice upon arrival in Singapore. They arrived from countries including India, Bangladesh and Nepal.

With 20 cases discharged yesterday, 60,667 patients have fully recovered from the disease.

A total of 109 patients remain in hospital, with none in intensive care, while 230 are recuperating in community facilities.

Singapore has had 30 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while 15 who tested positive have died of other causes.