Two workers at Changi T3 among 14 new cases

All Changi Airport T3 workers who may have had contact with travellers will be tested for the virus. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

Two of the 14 new cases reported by the Ministry of Health (MOH) yesterday worked at Changi Airport Terminal 3. These two community cases are unlinked.

One is a security officer at T3, who had gone to work before hospital admission. He also visited the Singapore National Eye Centre for treatment of a non-related medical condition. The other is a screener and swab assistant at Raffles Medical in T3, who had gone to work prior to hospital admission.

"While both cases work at T3, they had not interacted with each other, and epidemiological investigations so far have not established any link between them," MOH said in a statement last night. As a precautionary measure, however, all individuals working at T3 who may have contact with travellers will be tested for Covid-19, it added.

As travel volume is expected to pick up in the coming months, MOH said it has been in talks with public agencies to ramp up rostered routine testing of front-line staff working at Changi Airport. More details will be provided later.

Places visited by the new Covid-19 patients while they were still infectious include FairPrice Finest at T3 and Jurong Point.

A third locally transmitted case resides in a dormitory. He was detected through the biweekly rostered routine testing of workers staying in dormitories.

The remaining 11 cases were imported - they were three Singaporeans, a permanent resident, three work permit holders, two long-term visit pass holders, a short-term visit pass holder and a student's pass holder. They returned from India, the Philippines, Indonesia and France. All had been placed on stay-home notices upon arrival in Singapore and were tested then.

The number of new cases in the community has decreased from four cases in the week before, to three in the past week. But the number of unlinked cases in the community has increased from one in the week before, to three in the past week. With 12 cases discharged yesterday, 57,829 patients have fully recovered from the disease.

A total of 53 patients remain in hospital, while 40 are recuperating in community facilities.

Singapore has had 28 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while 15 who tested positive have died of other causes.

  • Update on cases

  • New cases: 14

    Imported: 11 (3 Singaporeans, 3 work permit holders, 1 permanent resident, 2 long-term visit pass holders, 1 short-term visit pass holder, 1 student's pass holder)

    In community: 2

    In dormitories: 1

    Active cases: 93

    In hospitals: 53 (0 in ICU)

    In community facilities: 40

    Deaths: 28

    Patients with Covid-19 who died from other causes: 15

    Total discharged: 57,829

    Discharged yesterday: 12

    TOTAL CASES: 57,965

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on October 25, 2020, with the headline Two workers at Changi T3 among 14 new cases. Subscribe