Foreign domestic worker who attended same settling in programme as earlier case tests positive for COVID-19

SINGAPORE: A foreign domestic worker who attended the same settling in programme as a previously confirmed COVID-19 case was among the new cases reported on Thursday (Mar 11).

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said there is currently no evidence the two cases are linked.

The woman, identified as Case 60818, is a 37-year-old Indonesian who arrived in Singapore on Jan 20 and served her stay-home notice at a dedicated facility until Feb 3.

A swab test on Feb 2 during her stay-home notice returned negative, as did a pre-departure test taken in Indonesia on Jan 18, MOH said. She is asymptomatic.

She was tested on Mar 9 as part of the ministry’s investigation into Case 60666, another Indonesian foreign domestic worker who was among the confirmed cases reported on Mar 6.

Case 60666 also tested negative for the virus when swabbed during her stay-home notice in Singapore, but tested positive after taking a pre-departure test prior to her return to Indonesia.

READ: Indonesian domestic worker among 13 new COVID-19 infections in Singapore

Case 60818, Thursday's case, was subsequently sent to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases by ambulance. Her serological test came back positive, indicating a likely past infection, MOH added.

“However as we are unable to definitively confirm her date of infection, we will take all the necessary public health actions as a precautionary measure,” the ministry said.

“As an added precaution, MOH tested all attendees of the settling in programme for foreign domestic workers on Feb 4, which both Cases 60666 and 60818 attended, even though they were not close contacts.”

READ: Indonesian maid is sole community case among 8 new COVID-19 infections in Singapore

Based on epidemiological investigations, the two cases are likely to have been separately infected earlier and there is currently no evidence that they are linked, MOH added.​​​​​​​

Eight new COVID-19 cases were reported on Wednesday. The remaining seven cases are all imported.

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