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SINGAPORE: Mandarin Orchard Singapore received the green light to reopen on Saturday (January 2) after the Ministry of Health (MOH) found no further transmission beyond the 13 cases they reported staying home at the hotel.
All hotel employees who were swabbed under “special testing operations” also tested negative for COVID-19 using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, the ministry added.
On December 19 it was announced that the Ministry of Health was investigating 13 imported COVID-19 cases that delivered their stay-at-home notice in the hotel, as it was observed that they had “high genetic similarity” despite coming from different countries .
This suggests that the cases “were likely infected from a similar source,” authorities said at the time, adding that they cannot exclude that the transmissions may have occurred at the Mandarin Orchard hotel.
READ: 13 Imported COVID-19 Cases Delivering Stay-at-Home Notice at Mandarin Orchard Hotel Investigated for ‘Possible Link’
After the 13 cases, who stayed at the hotel between October 22 and November 11, two more infections involving imported cases were possibly linked to the hotel.
“Since then, we have completed investigations into these 13 cases and have determined that there was no further transmission beyond them,” the Health Ministry said on Friday.
“It was determined that the other COVID-19 cases they had delivered to SHN (stay-at-home notice) at Mandarin Orchard Singapore were not linked to the 13 cases.”
READ: 8 more Mandarin Orchard hotel staff have ‘likely’ past COVID-19 infection, bringing total to 11
In addition to hotel employees who have since tested negative, the Health Ministry said the serological tests of 11 staff members came back positive, indicating that they have likely been infected in the past.
“These findings indicate that there is no ongoing transmission in Mandarin Orchard Singapore,” the Ministry of Health said.
“As the facilities have been completely disinfected and there is no longer any risk of transmission to hotel guests, the Ministry of Health approved the reopening of Mandarin Orchard Singapore as of January 2, 2021, including its spaces for restaurants and events “.
The hotel reopens 14 days after its closure on December 19. As a precaution, the hotel had stopped accepting new guests, with all guests at check out. Those who were serving their stay-at-home notice at the time were moved to another dedicated facility.
Singapore reported 30 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, including three community cases.
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