Airport staff among 3 new preliminarily positive cases
Three more people, including another airport front-line worker, have preliminarily tested positive for the Omicron variant of the virus that causes Covid-19, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Friday (Dec 10).
The passenger service staff works at the departure gates at Changi Airport Terminal 3. MOH said the 38-year-old did not interact with the three earlier cases.
The other two cases are travellers who returned to Singapore via the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) from the United Kingdom on Wednesday.
Changi Airport Group told The Straits Times on Friday that it is ramping up precautionary measures at the airport to reduce the spread of the virus.
This includes getting front-line airport staff to take a daily antigen rapid test for the next seven days, on top of their routine testing.
On Thursday, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said two Covid-19 patients here had preliminarily tested positive for the Omicron variant.
One is a 24-year-old passenger service worker at Changi Airport - the first local case here - while the second is an imported case, MOH said.
Since the emergence of the new variant - which was designated as a variant of concern by the World Health Organisation at the end of November - Changi Airport has stepped up the personal protective equipment requirements for staff handling transfer passengers, CAG said.
It added that the close contacts of the affected worker have been placed under close monitoring.
"Stringent safety protocols continue to be in place at Changi Airport for the health and safety of the airport community," CAG said.
"Staff serving passengers in the transit areas are required to be fully vaccinated, and to don the necessary level of personal protective equipment."
CAG added that staff in close contact with passengers during their course of work undergo rostered routine testing and take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test every seven days.
Other front-line staff, including those who work in the public areas, are required to take an ART every seven days, it said.
"With the evolving Covid-19 pandemic, Changi Airport continues to monitor the situation on the ground closely and adapts its safety measures to protect airport staff," added CAG.
The infected employee worked at Changi Airport Terminals 1 and 3.
The woman took a Covid-19 test on Dec 8 under the weekly rostered routine testing and her PCR test result revealed traces linked to the Omicron variant, MOH said.
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