Singapore – Two of the new Covid-19 cases confirmed by the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Thursday (Feb 11) did not seek medical attention despite feeling ill or use their TraceTogether app or tokens.
In its daily Covid-19 update on Thursday, the MOH announced three new cases in the community. The first, Case 60138, is a 66-year-old male Singapore Permanent Resident who works as a stall owner of a sundry shop at Chinatown Complex.
The man developed a dry cough on Jan 28 and anosmia (smell blindness) on Feb 9, yet did not seek medical attention. He was detected through community surveillance testing of stallholders and shop owners in Chinatown on Feb 9.
His test result returned positive for Covid-19 the following day and he was conveyed in an ambulance to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID). The patient’s serology test result came back negative, indicating the likelihood of a current infection.
The other confirmed case, Case 60150, is a 32-year-old Singaporean who is the son of Case 60138 and works part-time as a waiter at Swensen’s in Changi Airport Terminal 3. The man was last at work on Feb 8, the same day he developed a runny nose but did not seek medical treatment.
As he had been identified as a close contact of his father, he was contacted by MOH on Feb 10 and placed under quarantine. He reported his symptoms and was conveyed to NCID, where he was tested for the virus on the same day. The results came back positive on Feb 11 under the same conditions as his father’s.
“We strongly urge everyone to do their part to reduce the risk of transmission,” said the MOH. “Those who are unwell, including those showing early or mild symptoms, should be socially responsible and seek medical attention immediately and stay at home to prevent the spread of illness to others.”
The report also noted that both cases did not use the TraceTogether app and that, while they both had the tokens, they did not carry the tokens with them. “Effective contact tracing is an important enabler to ringfence community transmission,” said MOH.
“Individuals are reminded to turn on their TraceTogether app or carry their TraceTogether token at all times so that we can quickly identify and isolate the close contacts of Covid-19 cases and limit further infections.”
The last confirmed case (60145) is a 20-year-old Singaporean who is a full-time National Serviceman. He works at the Singapore Armed Forces premises at 200 Airport Road. The MOH noted the man does not stay in camp and that his work does not entail interacting with other units.
The man felt unwell on Feb 3 and sought medical treatment at a general practitioner clinic. “As he did not have symptoms associated with acute respiratory infection, he was not tested for Covid-19 but was placed on medical leave.”
He subsequently went back to work on Feb 8 and developed a fever and a runny nose on the next day. He got tested and confirmed positive for the virus on Feb 10.
Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased from 3 cases in the week before to 7 cases in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from 2 cases in the week before to 6 cases in the past week. /TISG
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