SINGAPORE, Feb 12 — The Ministry of Health (MOH) yesterday reported two more cases of the novel coronavirus here, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Singapore to 47.

Both new cases had no recent travel history to China. Of the two, one is a Bangladeshi worker who had gone to work at 10 Seletar Aerospace Heights, where a previous confirmed case (Case 42) had worked at.

The other is a Singapore Permanent Resident who lives in Johor Baru and works in the Republic. Prior to his hospitalisation, he had worked at Resorts World Sentosa Casino.

In its media statement, MOH added that two more patients (Cases 17 and 36) have been discharged from the hospital, while another seven are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

This brings the total number of patients discharged from the hospital to nine so far.

Of the 25 locally transmitted cases, epidemiological investigations and contact tracing have uncovered links between 15 of the cases with the three currently known clusters (The Life Church and Missions Singapore, Yong Thai Hang and a private business meeting held at Grand Hyatt Singapore), MOH said.

Contact tracing is underway for the other 10 locally transmitted cases to establish if they are linked to previous cases or persons with travel history to mainland China.

About the confirmed cases

Case 46

Case 46 is a 35-year-old Singapore Permanent Resident with no recent travel history to China.

He lives in Johor Baru and works in Singapore.

He is currently warded in an isolation room at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).

He had earlier reported the onset of symptoms on February 5 and had sought treatment at a general practitioner (GP) clinic on February 9.

He was then transferred to Tan Tock Seng Hospital via an ambulance that same day, and was immediately isolated.

Subsequent test results then confirmed the novel coronavirus infection on Feb 10 in the afternoon.

Prior to his hospital admission, he had gone to work at Resorts World Sentosa Casino.

Case 47

Case 47 is a 39-year-old male Bangladeshi national who is a Singapore Work Pass holder, and has no recent travel history to China.

He is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.

He had earlier reported the onset of symptoms on Feb 6, and sought treatment at a GP clinic on Feb 7.

He then went to the NCID on February 10, and test results confirmed the novel coronavirus infection in the afternoon.

Prior to his hospital admission, the case had gone to work at 10 Seletar Aerospace Heights — the same location where Case 42 had worked.

The patient reported that he stayed at his rental apartment at Veerasamy Road near Little India since the onset of his symptoms, except to visit the GP clinic.

Update on condition of confirmed cases

To date, a total of nine cases have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospital, MOH said. Of the 38 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving. Seven are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

Update on suspect cases

As of midday yesterday, 608 of the suspect cases have tested negative for the novel coronavirus, while 47 have tested positive. Test results for the remaining 43 cases are pending.

Update on contact tracing for confirmed cases

Contact tracing for the confirmed cases is ongoing. As a precautionary measure, these contacts will be quarantined for 14 days from their last exposure to the patient. In addition, all other identified contacts who have a low risk of being infected will be under active surveillance, and will be contacted daily to monitor their health status.

MOH has identified 1,124 close contacts. Of the 1,021 who are still in Singapore, 989 have been contacted and are being quarantined or isolated. Efforts are ongoing to contact the remaining 32 close contacts.

Health advisory

In a reminder, MOH said that Singaporeans are advised to defer all travel to Hubei province and all non-essential travel to mainland China.

All travellers should monitor their health closely for two weeks upon return to Singapore and seek medical attention promptly if they feel unwell. Travellers should also inform their doctor of their travel history.

If they have a fever or respiratory symptoms, they should wear a mask and call the clinic ahead of the visit.

“As medical practitioners are on the lookout for suspect cases who have recently been in China, Singapore is likely to see more cases that will need to be investigated,” it added. ― TODAY