Singapore confirms three new Wuhan cases, total number now at 13
As infections rise, scientists in Singapore successfully culture coronavirus
It started with one on Jan 23, two more the next day, and since then, the number of people infected by the Wuhan coronavirus in Singapore has steadily increased.
Last night, the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced three new cases, bringing the total here to 13. All are Chinese nationals from Wuhan.
Shortly after the MOH statement last night came a positive development in the fight against the virus, when Duke-NUS issued a statement that Singapore had successfully cultured the coronavirus from an infected patient's clinical sample.
The Duke-NUS Medical School cultured the virus in close collaboration with clinicians and scientists from SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre, Singapore General Hospital (SGH), National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) and the MOH.
China and Australia have also been successful in their efforts to culture the virus, which will help in diagnosis and is a step toward finding a vaccine.
The three new Wuhan virus cases are women who are warded in isolation rooms at the NCID.
The MOH said there is still no evidence of community spread.
The 11th case is a 31-year-old from Wuhan who arrived in Singapore on Jan 22.
She was identified as a travelling companion of the fourth confirmed case here and had been quarantined from Sunday.
She was asymptomatic during her flight to Singapore and developed symptoms on Monday.
Subsequent tests confirmed the coronavirus infection on Wednesday at about 11pm.
The 12th case is a 37-year-old woman who arrived in Singapore with her family on Jan 22.
She developed symptoms on Sunday and went to Tan Tock Seng Hospital in a taxi on Wednesday, where she was classified as a suspect case and immediately isolated at NCID.
The woman had stayed at Village Hotel Sentosa, Hotel 81 Princess and Home Suite View Hotel and visited Orchard Road and Geylang, using taxis as her mode of transport.
However, the MOH said the risk of infection from transient contact, such as on public transport or in public places, is assessed to be low.
The 13th confirmed case is a 73-year-old who arrived in Singapore from Wuhan on Jan 21 with her family. She tested positive for the infection yesterday at about 2pm.
The MOH has initiated epidemiological investigations and contact tracing to identify individuals who had close contact with the three women.
In a statement yesterday, the MOH said: "The three new cases are stable currently, and we are continuing to monitor their health."
As for the 10 others, most are improving with the rest in stable condition.
As of noon yesterday, 164 of the suspect cases have tested negative for the coronavirus, while the test results for the remaining 49 cases are pending.
The MOH has identified 170 close contacts of the suspected cases and of the 139 who are still in Singapore, 135 have been contacted and are being quarantined or isolated.
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