The Ministry of Health yesterday (Feb 29) disclosed that Singapore saw 4 new confirmed cases, bringing the total to 102.
Two Singaporeans (case 99 and case 101), one Filipino maid (case 102) and one Malaysian (case 100) were said to be “linked” to the Science Park II clusters, where four others were earlier infected. There is no information how they are linked.
The source of the local transmission is still not been found.
Case 99, a 27-year-old Singaporean, started coughing on Feb 21 but did not visit a GP clinic until Feb 25. The GP clinic turned him away and he went to a government polyclinic at Pioneer, where he was identified as a suspect case. Subsequent tests found that he was infected.
Case 100, a 20-year-old Malaysian, started coughing on Feb 27 and visited a GP clinic on Feb 28. He was immediately identified as a suspect case for undisclosed reasons.
Case 101, a 61-year-old Singaporean, did not know when he started coughing, but he infected his 41-year-old Filipino maid (case 102). Both tested positive on Saturday morning (Feb 29).
Many infected cases have gone undetected because the Singapore government mandated that suspect cases with “mild symptoms” will be given 5 days MC. This resulted in many Singaporeans avoiding the GP clinics because they will lose a week of salaries, and those infected who took the MC ended up spreading the virus over the 5 days.
Of the 102 infected, 8 are now in critical conditions. Singapore ministers however still advise against wearing a mask in public.