The Ministry of Health on Monday (10 Feb) confirmed two more cases of the novel coronavirus infection here, including a two-year-old Singaporean evacuated from Wuhan on 30 Jan and a Centris Cisco employee who served quarantine orders on two people from Wuhan.
This brings the total number of cases here to 45.
One of the new cases is a 37-year-old Singaporean man who reported onset of symptoms on 31 January, and had sought treatment at a general practitioner clinic on 2 February. On 6 February, he went to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital where he was immediately isolated.
Before developing symptoms, he had gone to work at Certis Cisco Centre and had been on duty at Chingay 2020. Prior to the onset of the symptoms, he had served quarantine orders on two individuals from Wuhan who had subsequently tested positive for the virus. He did not serve any quarantine orders after developing symptoms
The other case is a two-year-old Singaporean girl who was evacuated from Wuhan on chartered Scoot flight that landed in Singapore on 30 January. She did not have symptoms when she boarded the flight back to Singapore and was quarantined upon landing.
She was referred to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) on 7 February based on initial test results and was immediately isolated. She was subsequently confirmed to have the virus infection on Monday (10 Feb).
The two-year-old is the second child to test positive of the virus here. The first is a six-month-old baby boy was confirmed to have the virus on Wednesday (5 Feb). He is the child of an infected couple.
Updates on previously confirmed cases
The latest update from the MOH also said that a total of seven cases have fully recovered to date.
"One more confirmed case of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection has been discharged from hospital today. In all, seven have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospital," MOH said.
According to MOH, most of the 38 remaining cases still in hospital are stable or improving, while seven are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
"No evidence of transmission through aerosol," says MOH
Separately, the MOH said there is no evidence of transmission of the coronavirus through aerosol.
"MOH has looked into reports that 2019-nCOV could be transmitted through aerosol," it noted on the press release, "based on evidence available in China, an expert from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention has said that there is currently no evidence that the virus can be transmitted through aerosol. The currently known transmission routes of the virus are via respiratory droplets and physical contact."
DORSCON Orange
On Friday (Feb 7), Singapore raised its Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) up a level to orange as the coronavirus spread further within the country, with more new cases of with no known origin surface.
Under the Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (Dorscon) Orange, the outbreak is deemed to have moderate to high public health impact, but the situation is still under control. Code Orange is one step below Red, which signifies an out-of-control pandemic.
Extra measures to reduce the risk of increased infection have since been put in place such as minimising mingling in schools.
The MOE had earlier announced additional precautionary measures to minimise congregation of students in large numbers. These measures included:
- Large group and communal activities such as assemblies, camps and mass celebrations will be suspended
- Recess times in schools will be staggered
- School-based CCAs and after-school programmes may continue, in smaller groups
With immediate effect, schools will suspend inter-school and external activities until the end of the March holidays. These include the national school games, learning journeys and camps. All schools and teachers will also continue to implement already announced enhanced measures such as classroom-based assemblies, the MOH said.
Restrictions on visitors to pre-schools, social and eldercare premises will also be imposed.
The MOH has issued an infographic on precautions the public should take to help contain the spread of 2019-nCoV.