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COVID-19: Singapore reports first case 'with travel history to Jakarta'
The health ministry in Indonesia's closest neighboring country said that Case 107 had no travel history to China or to South Korea, but had traveled to Jakarta on Feb. 11-14.
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One man wearing a face mask (center, mid-ground) walks among a crowd of pedestrians on Feb. 12, 2020 in the Marina Bay business district of Singapore. Singapore's financial district was rocked by the global health emergency after an infection at DBS Bank prompted the country’s biggest bank to evacuate 300 employees. (Bloomberg/Ore Huiying)
S
ingapore’s Ministry of Health announced on Monday that its latest confirmed case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was a 68-year-old Singaporean woman who had traveled to Jakarta in mid-February.
With the new case in Singapore, the global total of reported cases with a travel history to Indonesia now numbers eight.
The patient, identified only as Case 107, had no history of recent travel to China or to Daegu and Cheongdo, the two COVID-19 hot spots in South Korea; however, she had traveled to Jakarta from Feb. 11 to 14.
“The woman reported onset of symptoms on Feb. 16, and then sought treatment at two general practitioner clinics on Feb. 20, 23 and 25. She presented [COVID-19 symptoms] at Tan Tock Seng Hospital on Feb. 27 and was immediately isolated. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on Mar. 1 afternoon,” the ministry stated on its website.
Read also: Indonesian domestic worker in Singapore recovers from COVID-19
The woman is being treated at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) in Novena. Prior to being admitted to the hospital, she had mostly stayed at home on Bishan Street 13.
Novena is the third station south from Bishan Station on the North-South line of the Singapore MRT, but the woman's mode of transportation has not been disclosed.
The ministry noted that Case 107 was connected to Case 94, a 64-year-old Singaporean woman who had not traveled recently to China or South Korea, either, but was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Feb. 26.
It also said that 30 confirmed cases were still hospitalized in Singapore as of Monday, most in stable or improved condition, while six COVID-19 patients were in critical condition and receiving intensive care. A further 78 patients had fully recovered from the disease and had been discharged.
Also on Monday, the Singapore health ministry confirmed three positive COVID-19 cases: two citizens and one Myanmarese resident of Singapore who were diagnosed after visiting Batam in Indonesia. Cases 101, 103 and 104 had traveled together to the city in Riau Islands province from Feb. 21 to 23 and are among the cases linked to a cluster at Wizlearn Technologies, a Singaporean software company.
Read also: Coronavirus carrier faces jail in Singapore for lying over movements
By Monday, Singapore health authorities had already identified 3,140 close contacts of the three cases, of which 2,805 had been released from quarantine and 335 remain under quarantine.
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo announced on Monday that two Indonesians had tested positive for COVID-19, the first two confirmed cases in the country. The patients are a 64-year-old woman and her 31-year-old daughter who had been in contact with the Japanese national who was diagnosed on Feb. 27 in Malaysia after visiting Indonesia in mid-February.
Prior to the four cases in Singapore, four other cases in China, Japan, New Zealand and Malaysia tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after returning from Indonesia.
Editor's note: The heading of this article has been corrected.
