More measures may be necessary to keep infections in check: Minister

This article is more than 12 months old

Jan 19, 2021 06:00 am

Additional measures may be needed to keep Covid-19 in check here, task force co-chairman Lawrence Wong said last night as community cases inched up and two more people were linked to the police para-vet cluster.

Mr Wong, who is also Education Minister, said in a Facebook post that Singapore has seen more new infections in recent days, including the first local cluster in months.

He said contact tracers were working hard to ring-fence potential cases and prevent them from spreading further, adding: "We are also monitoring the situation carefully and considering if additional measures are necessary to ensure the infection remains under control."

Last night, the Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed 14 new cases, two of which were in the community, bringing Singapore's total to 59,127.

The two new community cases were linked to the police para-veterinarian cluster - centred on a 32-year-old Singaporean who works in the K-9 Unit at 2 Mowbray Road - bringing its number of cases to six.

Four of the six in the cluster did not seek medical treatment despite coming down with symptoms.

The WHO is currently in the process of conducting an analysis of excess deaths during the pandemic.

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The first of the two new cases is a 43-year-old Singaporean housewife who is the spouse of a previous patient in the cluster.

She had a runny nose on Jan 10 and later lost her sense of taste and developed a sore throat and diarrhoea, but did not seek medical treatment.

She was contacted by MOH on Saturday and her test came back positive the next day. She was taken to KK Women's and Children's Hospital by ambulance. Her serological test was negative, showing a probable current infection.

The second case is a 66-year-old Malaysian woman who has been in Singapore since January last year on a long-term visit pass.

She developed acute respiratory infection symptoms and diarrhoea on Jan 9, and subsequently loss her sense of taste, but also had not sought medical treatment.

She was contacted by MOH on Saturday, tested positive the next day and was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital by ambulance. Her serological test came back positive, indicating a recent infection.

Both are family members of a 44-year-old Singaporean administrative officer who works in the same location as the para-vet.