A local infection of COVID-19 reported on 26 November broke Singapore’s 15-day streak of zero locally transmitted cases. The case is a Singaporean. He works as a Service Engineer at Master Systems Marine Pte Ltd.
On 21 November, he had dinner with 12 family members at Seoul Garden at Tampines Mall. They occupied 3 tables and there was mingling between the groups. Amongst those present at the dinner was his 2-year-old niece, who had earlier been issued a 5-day medical certificate (from 20 November to 24 November) for runny nose. However, she has since been tested negative for COVID-19 infection.
Authorities are now investigating to assess if there had been any breach of the relevant safe management measures.
The case developed a fever and sore throat on 23 November night. He ought medical treatment at a General Practitioner clinic the next day, where he was tested for COVID-19 under the enhanced community testing regime.
When his test came back positive, he was conveyed in an ambulance to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases. His serological test (for antibodies) has come back negative. This indicates that his is a fresh infection.
His job as a service engineer entails going onboard vessels docked at Marina South Pier and West Coast Pier for servicing and maintenance of ships’ navigational systems. He typically worked alone and had no interaction with vessel crew except for a supervising crew member. On days when he was not working onboard vessels, he had remained at his office located at Vertex Building Tower B. He reported that he wore a surgical mask during his work onboard the vessels and at the office, and that safe distancing and safe management measures were adhered to.
Meanwhile, all his close contacts including his family members at the dinner have been isolated. They are placed on quarantine and will be tested at the start and end of their quarantine period to detect asymptomatic cases. MOH will also conduct serological tests on his household and family contacts to determine if he could have been infected by them.
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