Yahoo Finance 22 new COVID cases, including 2 in community who did not seek medical attention despite symptoms
SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed 22 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore on Monday (8 February), taking the country’s total case count to 59,721.
Two are cases in the community while the remaining 20 are imported. Monday marks the second consecutive day with local transmissions reported.
“Amongst the new cases today, 18 are asymptomatic, and were detected from our proactive screening and surveillance, while four were symptomatic,” said the MOH.
Among the two community cases, both of whom did not seek medical attention after developing symptoms, one had received his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on 27 January.
One community case received first dose of Pfizer vaccine
He is a 30-year-old male Indian national who is a work pass holder, and had earlier been identified as a close contact of a previously reported case – a sea crew member who arrived from Japan on board a vessel, and was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 11 January.
The man was placed on quarantine from 13 to 24 January. His swabs taken during quarantine on 13 and 21 January were negative for COVID-19.
Subsequent tests done as part of the rostered routine testing (RRT) regime – the last being on 29 January – were also negative for COVID-19.
He developed fatigue on 4 February, and fever the next day but did not seek medical attention.
On 5 February, he was tested for COVID-19 as part of the RRT and came back positive for COVID-19 the next day. He was conveyed in an ambulance to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).
“While his serological test taken on 7 February has come back positive, this is assessed to be a recent infection as he is symptomatic, and the Ct value for his polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test was low,” said the MOH.
The man had received his first jab of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on 27 January, which accounts for his positive serology test as he has likely started producing antibodies following vaccination, added the ministry.
“As the vaccine does not contain live virus, he could not have been infected due to vaccination. It is possible for one to be infected just before or just after vaccination as it typically takes a few weeks for an individual to build up immunity after completing vaccination,” said the MOH.
The man works as an engineer at Station Satcom. As part of his job, he boards ships to install communications and IT equipment.
UPDATE: 22 new COVID cases in Singapore, including 2 in community who did not seek medical attention despite symptoms https://t.co/F5XEPLo8Lq pic.twitter.com/v7XlTkhH3Z
— Yahoo Singapore (@YahooSG) February 8, 2021
Both community cases did not seek medical attention despite symptoms
The other community case is a 49-year-old Singaporean man who works as a bus driver employed by Cobb & Coach Services.
His job includes transporting individuals placed on the stay-home notice from Changi Airport to dedicated facilities. The man’s bus is disinfected after every trip.
He developed a runny nose on 31 January but did not seek medical attention. He was subsequently detected when he was tested on 5 February as part of the RRT.
His pooled test result came back positive for COVID-19 on 6 February, and an individual test was done later that night at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
His test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection the next day and he was conveyed in an ambulance to the NCID.
His earlier tests from RRT – the last being on 23 January – were negative for COVID-19 infection. His serology test result has come back negative, indicating that this is likely a current infection.
The MOH said the number of new cases in the community has increased from three in the week before to four in the past week.
The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from two in the week before to four in the past week.
The ministry also added several places to a list of public venues visited by community cases while they were infectious: Kallang Wave Mall’s FairPrice Xtra outlet, Sheng Siong Supermarket at 312A Sumang Link, Punggol Plaza, and DonBaasha 24hrs Restaurant.
20 imported case, including 7-year-old girl
Amongst the 20 imported cases, four are Singaporeans and three are permanent residents who returned from Canada, India, and the United Arab Emirates.
Two others are dependant’s pass holders – including a seven-year-old girl – who arrived from India and the United Arab Emirates, while three cases are work pass holders who arrived from India, Nepal, and the Philippines.
Seven others are work permit holders who arrived from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Myanmar, of whom five are foreign domestic workers.
The remaining case is a short-term visit pass holder who arrived from Malawi to visit her Singaporean relatives.
The imported cases were placed on the stay-home notice upon their arrival here and were tested while serving the notice.
UPDATE: 20 of 22 new COVID cases in Singapore imported, including 7-year-old girl https://t.co/F5XEPLo8Lq pic.twitter.com/Fdmod4Z7i6
— Yahoo Singapore (@YahooSG) February 8, 2021
99% of total cases have recovered, 1 in ICU
With 51 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Monday, 59,484 cases – or 99.5 per cent of the total – have fully recovered from the infection.
Most of the 44 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, and one in the intensive care unit.
A total of 164 patients – with mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive – are isolated and cared for at community facilities.
Apart from 29 patients who have died from COVID-19 complications, 15 others who tested positive for the virus were determined to have died from unrelated causes, including three whose deaths were attributed to a heart attack and another four, whose deaths were attributed to coronary heart disease.
Amongst the 156 confirmed cases reported from 2 to 8 February, 84 cases have tested positive for their serology tests, 32 have tested negative, and 40 serology test results are pending.
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