MOH investigating 13 Covid-19 infections among people who served stay-home notices at Mandarin Orchard hotel

[Blueray]

MOH should have released this news earlier, me thinks ....

so many days has since elapsed.

[13177]

11 minutes ago, Blueray said:

MOH should have released this news earlier, me thinks ....

so many days has since elapsed.

How come this news only reported now after the actual incident happened more than 1 month ago?

[inlinesix]

29 minutes ago, 13177 said:

How come this news only reported now after the actual incident happened more than 1 month ago?

Likely it is only spotted recently.

This kind of analysis needs big data.

Not Excel sheet type of analysis.

[Weez911]

1 hour ago, Adrianli said:

This is something that bothers me within the healthcare sector where I was attached to. Suspected patients are pretty much isolated and escorted within the healthcare institutions. But after the x-ray or swap test are done, these suspected patients have to make their own way home. Thus possible spreading to the community while waiting for the result.

Within the healthcare institutions compound these suspected patients were ID and isolated. But allowed to leave and wait for result. Doesn’t make any sense to me. But I am just a small fly, these are just my humble observations. Therefore I am extra precaution whenever I am making my way around. You will never know if you had bumped into a suspected patient.

Yep agreed. That's why mask wearing should be mandatory until the herd immunity is achieved worldwide. That's the cheapest and easiest way to guard against this unseen enemy. Not 100% of course, but masking and distancing minimise our risk greatly.

[Windwaver]

1 hour ago, Weez911 said:

Yep agreed. That's why mask wearing should be mandatory until the herd immunity is achieved worldwide. That's the cheapest and easiest way to guard against this unseen enemy. Not 100% of course, but masking and distancing minimise our risk greatly.

I don't quite understand why so many people need to pull down their masks when coughing.

Just this weekend saw another uncle doing that 

[noobcarbuyer]

2 hours ago, Weez911 said:

 Yep agreed. That's why mask wearing should be mandatory until the herd immunity is achieved worldwide. That's the cheapest and easiest way to guard against this unseen enemy. Not 100% of course, but masking and distancing minimise our risk greatly.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have only been proven to prevent serious symptoms of COVID-19 manifesting.

The vaccines have not been shown to protect the vaccinated against infection or prevent further transmission of the virus to others.

[Ody_2004]

46 minutes ago, Windwaver said:

I don't quite understand why so many people need to pull down their masks when coughing.

Just this weekend saw another uncle doing that 

they don't want to dirty their mask loh..

[ToyotaShuttle]

7 hours ago, Staff69 said:

you don't see any of the ministars doing staycation😂😂

Don't be disingenuous. I don't think any minister is avoiding staycation because they are afraid of the risk of contracting the virus.

Why pay to stay in a hotel when your GCB is better equipped and furnished?

[Weez911]

1 hour ago, Windwaver said:

I don't quite understand why so many people need to pull down their masks when coughing.

Just this weekend saw another uncle doing that 

I have also seen 3 foreigners walking abreast with their masks down while talking, people talking on their handphone with mask down, and yes, sneezing with mask down. 

Quite frustrating to see. 

[inlinesix]

3 Covid-19 cases at Mandarin Orchard likely imported; past infections found in 3 staff: MOH

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/mandarin-orchard-cases-3-covid-19-cases-among-shn-guests-likely-to-be-imported-past

3 new cases at Mandarin Orchard (likely imported).

3 hotel staff has COVID19 antibody in their blood.

Quote

SINGAPORE - Three people who are serving their stay-home notice (SHN) at the Mandarin Orchard Singapore have tested positive for Covid-19. It is likely these are imported cases and not linked to 13 other cases being investigated, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Sunday (Dec 20).

Additionally, serological tests conducted on three members of staff have come back positive, indicating likely past infections. Epidemiological investigations of these cases are in progress.

The cases were detected after guests serving SHN at the hotel were swabbed as part of measures taken after MOH launched a probe into 13 coronavirus cases among people who had previously served their SHN at Mandarin Orchard Singapore.

The 13 were suspected to have been infected after arriving here, as it was found that they had been infected by coronavirus strains that have "high genetic similarity", implying that the infections may have come from one source.

This is despite the fact that they had flown in from 10 different countries - such as the United States, South Korea, Britain, the Philippines and Bahrain.

In a press release, MOH said that 394 people serving SHN at the hotel have been swabbed, and 384 test results are ready, while 10 are pending. Of the results that are ready, 381 have come back negative for Covid-19.

The three guests who tested positive were immediately taken to hospital via ambulance. "As they have recent travel history, it is likely that these are imported, and have been included in today's (Sunday's) case count," said MOH.

"Nevertheless, the National Public Health Laboratory will conduct whole genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis to determine if they could be linked to the 13 cases. It takes about four weeks to culture the virus and complete the genome sequencing," it added.

So far, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for 158 staff of Mandarin Orchard Singapore have come back negative for Covid-19.

Mandarin Orchard Singapore has stopped accepting new guests since Saturday and is checking out existing guests progressively, MOH said. Individuals serving SHN at the hotel have been transported via dedicated vehicles to alternative SHN dedicated facilities.

The 13 cases being probed had all served their SHN in the same tower of the hotel between Oct 22 and Nov 11, and were confirmed to have Covid-19 between Nov 2 and 11.

This suggests that these cases were likely infected from a similar source, MOH and Singapore Tourism Board said in a joint statement on Saturday.

The incident has resulted in all hotel guests being progressively checked out, about 500 staff being tested for Covid-19, and the hotel being deep-cleaned and disinfected.

But experts said the matter is unlikely to spark a wave of infections here, given that more than a month has passed since they were confirmed to have Covid-19. That would have been enough for two incubation periods of 14 days each.

 

Edited December 20, 2020 by inlinesix

[Windwaver]

How much ambulance drivers earn?

[13177]

5 hours ago, Windwaver said:

I don't quite understand why so many people need to pull down their masks when coughing.

Just this weekend saw another uncle doing that 

Guess they dont want to dirty their mask? Since they need to wear the same mask for few days? 😅

[13177]

7 hours ago, Weez911 said:

Yep agreed. That's why mask wearing should be mandatory until the herd immunity is achieved worldwide. That's the cheapest and easiest way to guard against this unseen enemy. Not 100% of course, but masking and distancing minimise our risk greatly.

The only thing can do now is to wear mask, distancing not so liao. 

[Weez911]

13 minutes ago, 13177 said:

The only thing can do now is to wear mask, distancing not so liao. 

The crowds are there but we can still choose where we go, where we want to stand, and how we go about other daily activities. 

The only 2 remaining places that are difficult to practice distancing are the public transport and hawker centres. Hawker centres present a higher risk because people are not wearing masks while they eat (although tabao minimise the risk).

Public transport will get worse when more people return to work. I have the impression that many "WFH" workers are not actually working at home anyway.

We can now confirmed that there are still unlinked community cases from the Mandarin staff. The circulation must be out there. Hope we don't see another CB 2.0 before the population achieve herd.

Edited December 20, 2020 by Weez911

[Windwaver]

11 hours ago, 13177 said:

Guess they dont want to dirty their mask? Since they need to wear the same mask for few days? 😅

[Chongster]

On 12/20/2020 at 8:45 AM, Carbon82 said:

One thing which really puzzled me: How can the authorities allow Mandarin Hotel to open its door to the public while being a dedicated site for those serving SHN?

Unlike hospitals, whereby they have independent facilities setup (e.g. aircon and ventilation system) as well as separate staffs / team to minimise cross contamination, I doubt hotels can achieve the same level of segregation in their daily operations. So WHY?! 

Also, were the hotel guest informed when they book a staycation there? Correct me if I am wrong, unlike quarantine order (QO), people serving SHN are allowed to leave their rooms and move around the premises (within designated zones), adding to the risk of cross infection between those serving SHN and even normal hotel guest.

I hope MOH and the COVID-19 task force can relook into having SHN in-lieu of QO. Back in 2003 during the SARS outbreak, all incoming visitors from high risk areas were place under QO, whereby the person was confined within a room of their own. Given that COVID-19 is more infectious than SARS, shouldn’t we do more to control the spread?? 

when i first saw the headlines, i thought it was a past infection during the first half of the year.  It's almost inconceivable that a SHN hotel is being opened to staycation.  People getting complacent is one thing, but the people in charge should never get this complacent.  

 

[Chongster]

everywhere in the world is having relapse and bracing for a hard winter, we are merrily opening up further.  it's really making me nervous

[Weez911]

12 minutes ago, Chongster said:

everywhere in the world is having relapse and bracing for a hard winter, we are merrily opening up further.  it's really making me nervous

I will get a little nervous every time I see Ong Ye Kung in the news.