The situation continues to look grim in Singapore as a total of 27 new COVID-19 community cases were reported as of noon on Tuesday (May 18). Among the infected were an investment banker at DBS Bank and a two-year-old boy from My First Skool in Westgate as reported by The Straits Times.
Singapore reported a total of 38 coronavirus cases on Tuesday. Among them, 16 were linked to previous cases and 11 were unlinked. And 14 of the 27 new cases had been placed in quarantine earlier, said MOH. There were also 11 imported cases that were placed on stay-home notice upon arrival in Singapore.
A 57-year-old woman who works at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and an 18-year-old student at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College Central were among the infected cases.
Community Cases In Singapore: 4 New Clusters Uncovered
On Tuesday, MOH designated four new clusters with three cases each. Sharing more information on the patients, MOE said that the first one was the ITE student, whose infection has been linked to that of a Singaporean man who worked as a personal chauffeur. He was confirmed to have coronavirus last week.
A 36-year-old-foreign domestic worker is the third person in this cluster. He tested positive on Sunday (16 May).
Similarly, the two-year-old boy's infection was linked to that of a 35-year-old sales worker at Sanofi-Aventis who was confirmed to have COVID on Saturday.
There are currently 19 active clusters in Singapore.
1. Unlinked cases of Covid positive persons in Singapore
MOH informed that the DBS banker - and the MHA employee were among the 11 patients whose infections are currently unlinked.
Sharing more information about another unlinked case was a 40-year-old man who works as a vending machine loader and a food delivery rider for Deliveroo and Grab. He completed all his jabs.
A 51-year-old clinic assistant was also among the unlinked cases. She was also fully vaccinated.
2. B1617 variant has taken over Singapore
Fourteen of the community cases had already been quarantined when they tested positive. Three community cases have tested preliminarily positive for the B1617 variant.
One of them – a 36-year-old woman who works at Toast and Curry Sentosa – has been linked to the Changi Airport cluster.
The other two cases are household contacts of previously confirmed cases. They include a 36-year-old Malaysian woman who works at Toast and Curry Sentosa and a 59-year-old Singaporean man who works as a financial planner at Great Eastern.
3. Changi Airport Cluster
A Malay woman who works at Toast and Curry is also linked to the Changi Airport cluster case. The cluster at Changi Airport now has a total of 87 cases.
What is alarming is that in less than two weeks, the Changi Airport cluster has emerged as the country's largest community cluster to date. The virus has affected a large number of elderly workers, as much as it has also infiltrated visitors to public places within the airport.
The total number of cases in the country has shot up to 61, 651 and 31 fatalities. The cases have started spiralling and the number of new community cases has increased from 40 which was 2 weeks ago to 163 in the past week. In the same period, the unlinked cases have also jumped from 10 to 48.
What also needs to be highlighted is that the number of patients in ICU are at an 11-month high. There are 220 cases still in the hospital. Most of them are stable and/or improving, and five are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
What is Being Done To Curb Cases, Especially Among Young Children In Singapore?
On Tuesday, Singapore approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for kids aged between 12 and 15 years. This decision was made at a time when more children are contracting the highly transmissible variant.
Read: New B1617 Coronavirus Strain: This Is What Is Attacking Children In Singapore
As you may be aware that schools in the city-state have already shifted to home-based learning from May 19 until May 28. Both these measures should push forth the country's endeavour to keep the children safe and protected.
However, these are not the only measures that will work. Parents will also need to become proactive in caring for young children by means of following advisories from the government.
The leaders and the health experts have been urging people to stay indoors, get vaccinated and exercise all precautions to help bring the infection in control.
So it's important that you follow the basic rules: wash hands frequently, sanitise anything that enters your home, maintain social distance, and avoid venturing out unless necessary.
News source: The Straits Times, CNA
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