Singapore Now Has 10 Cases Of Wuhan Coronavirus, Latest 3 Imported From China
As more checks are made on people arriving in Singapore, more cases of Wuhan virus carriers have been found.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) announced on Wed (29 Jan) that another 3 cases have been confirmed in Singapore, taking the total tally to 10.
2 of them are a couple, while the third man arrived in Singapore from Wuhan on Mon (20 Jan).
Incidentally, all 3 of them are 56 years old and Chinese nationals.
We’ll talk more about the cases below.
Couple from Wuhan arrived on 19 Jan with no symptoms
The 8th and 9th cases in Singapore are a couple, both aged 56 years old.
Both of them arrived on the same flight on Sun (19 Jan), but were not sick. However, on 24 Jan they developed symptoms and went to Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH).
They were deemed suspect cases and isolated at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).
After being tested, both of them were confirmed to have the virus on 28 Jan for the woman and 29 Jan for the male respectively.
MOH said that both of them were staying with their family at Lorong Lew Lian.
Man arrived from Wuhan on 20 Jan, also displayed no symptoms
The 10th Wuhan virus case is a Chinese national who arrived from Wuhan on 20 Jan.
He was working and living on a cargo vessel here, and developed symptoms the day after he arrived.
However, he was only identified as a suspected case when tested at a health screening station at Marina South Pier on 28 Jan, and was admitted to NCID.
MOH says they are using epidemiological investigations – wherein they track known cases and find others exposed to said case – and contact tracing to determine who came in contact with this man.
MOH confirms all 10 cases are in stable condition
In the same statement, MOH gave an update on the ongoing Wuhan epidemic.
All 10 confirmed cases are isolated and in stable condition.
In addition, 111 close contacts have been tracked down as of 29 Jan, and they have been quarantined or isolated. MOH are trying to locate 4 more cases.
While all Wuhan virus confirmed cases from China, virus may still spread
All 10 cases confirmed by MOH so far have been from outside of Singapore. However, the virus has an incubation period of 14 days and carriers often do not display symptoms.
Therefore, one should always practice proper flu hygiene and be sure to put on a surgical mask if coughing, and seek medical attention if feeling ill.
We hope that all cases will recover swiftly and that there won’t be too many more confirmed ones in Singapore.
Featured image adapted from Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
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