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SINGAPORE – Three people who are complying with their stay at home notice (SHN) at the Mandarin Orchard Singapore have tested positive for Covid-19. These are likely to be imported cases and are not linked to 13 other cases that are being investigated, the Ministry of Health (MINSA) said on Sunday (December 20).
In addition, serological tests performed on three staff members were positive, indicating that they have likely been infected in the past. Epidemiological investigations of these cases are ongoing.
The cases were detected after guests serving SHN at the hotel were screened as part of measures taken after the Ministry of Health launched an investigation into 13 cases of coronavirus among people who had previously served their SHN in Mandarin Orchard Singapore.
All 13 were suspected of having been infected after arriving here, as they were found to have been infected by coronavirus strains that have “high genetic similarity,” implying that the infections may come from only one source.
This is despite the fact that they had flown from 10 different countries, including the United States, South Korea, Great Britain, the Philippines, and Bahrain.
In a press release, the Health Ministry said 394 people serving SHN at the hotel were sampled and 384 test results are ready, while 10 are pending. Of the results that are ready, 381 have been negative for Covid-19.
The three guests who tested positive were immediately taken to the hospital by ambulance. “Since they have a recent travel history, it is likely that they were imported and included in the case count for today (Sunday),” the Health Ministry said.
“However, the National Public Health Laboratory will carry out whole genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis to determine if they could be linked to all 13 cases. It takes approximately four weeks to grow the virus and complete genome sequencing.” added.
So far, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for 158 employees of Mandarin Orchard Singapore have been negative for Covid-19.
Mandarin Orchard Singapore stopped accepting new guests from Saturday and is progressively reviewing existing guests, the Health Ministry said. SHN staff at the hotel have been transported in exclusive vehicles to alternative SHN exclusive facilities.
The 13 investigated cases had served their SHN in the same hotel tower between October 22 and November 11, and they were confirmed to have Covid-19 between November 2 and 11.
This suggests that these cases were likely infected by a similar source, the Singapore Ministry of Health and Tourism Board said in a joint statement on Saturday.
The incident has resulted in all hotel guests being progressively screened, around 500 staff members being screened for Covid-19, and the hotel being thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.
But experts said the matter is unlikely to trigger a wave of infections here, given it’s been more than a month since they were confirmed to have Covid-19. That would have been enough for two incubation periods of 14 days each.
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