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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/120-bus-captains-across-seven-interchanges-infected-with-covid-19-so-far-lta A total of 120 bus captains have been infected with Covid-19 so far, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) which is working with public transport operators to minimise the impact on services. The number of clusters involving bus interchanges has grown to seven after the first two - at Bishan and Sengkang - were announced on Aug 14. An LTA spokesman told The Straits Times on Monday (Aug 30) that there are currently 23 infected bus captains in the Bishan cluster and 14 in the Sengkang one. Two new clusters - identified on Aug 26 - currently involve 33 bus captains at the Toa Payoh interchange, and 13 at the Punggol one. Another three clusters - announced over the last three days - currently involve nine bus captains in the Clementi interchange, 15 in the Jurong East interchange and 13 in the Boon Lay interchange. According to the Ministry of Health (MOH) website, another 54 cases - staff from these interchanges and their contacts- are also linked to the seven clusters. The LTA spokesman said many of the cases were picked up early and clusters isolated as a result of community surveillance testing and proactive regular testing. Of the 120 infected bus captains, four were unvaccinated. The rest are fully inoculated, and most are asymptomatic or showing only mild symptoms. Overall, 99 per cent of front-line public transport workers have completed their first dose of the vaccine, and over 95 per cent are fully inoculated, said the spokesman. Asked what is being done to ensure commuter safety at bus interchanges, he added: "Once a cluster at a public transport node is detected, deep cleaning and disinfection is carried at the location as well as on all affected buses and common facilities. This is in addition to the stepped up cleaning regime that operators have put in place since last year." Safe management measures are also strictly enforced, and in light of the recent developments, workers will have to take their meals and smoke breaks alone even if they are fully vaccinated, said the spokesman. He added that the authorities are monitoring the situation closely and will work with the operators to make further adjustments where necessary. ===================== Oof, everyone should be more careful when they visit bus interchanges during this period! 😞 It's so scary how asymptomatic cases can spread so quickly over a short amount of time. Stay safe guys! 😥

Honestly, I think these staycation and cruise to nowhere are putting people to unnecessary risk of infection, from a health and safety point of view. I know of companies that are considering issuing SHN to those returning from cruise and staycation as an added precaution. I wouldn't say that is unreasonable... MOH investigating 13 Covid-19 infections among people who served stay-home notices at Mandarin Orchard hotel SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Saturday (Dec 19) that it is investigating 13 cases of Covid-19 infection among individuals who had served stay-home notice (SHN) at Mandarin Orchard Singapore hotel, which will stop accepting new guests with immediate effect. In a press statement, MOH advised guests who have stayed at the hotel between Nov 11 and Dec 19 to monitor their health closely for 14 days from their last date of stay. “They should see a doctor promptly if they develop symptoms of acute respiratory infection (such as cough, sore throat and runny nose), as well as fever and loss of taste or smell, and inform the doctor of their exposure history,” said MOH. It added that persons on SHN are housed in a dedicated tower and floors at the hotel, segregated from all other guests, with no interaction amongst them. “However as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of all guests in the hotel, the hotel will check out all its occupants. Persons serving SHN will be transported via dedicated vehicles to an alternative SHN dedicated facility. "Deep cleaning and disinfection will be carried out by the hotel, in consultation with MOH and the National Environment Agency.” The hotel has made arrangements to check out existing guests progressively. Restaurant and event spaces within the hotel will also be closed. MOH said that as part of routine laboratory surveillance, the National Public Health Laboratory conducts whole genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis on all Covid-19 cases. It takes about four weeks to culture the virus and complete the genome sequencing. Thirteen imported cases, who were confirmed between Nov 2 and 11 to have Covid-19 infection, were observed to have high genetic similarity despite the cases having arrived from different countries, including Bahrain, Canada, Indonesia, Myanmar, Netherlands, Philippines, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. “This suggests that these cases were likely infected from a similar source," said MOH." Further investigations by MOH found that these 13 cases had served SHN at Mandarin Orchard Singapore between Oct 22 and Nov 11. Genome sequencing and analysis are continuing for cases beyond Nov 11.” The ministry said that epidemiological investigations were immediately initiated to determine if there is a potential link between these 13 cases and if transmission could have occurred locally, and not from their country of origin. “From MOH’s preliminary investigations, we cannot exclude that transmissions could have occurred at Mandarin Orchard Singapore. ”The ministry has started special testing operations to test around 500 staff of the hotel for Covid-19 infection. These include the staff serving those on SHN as well as those who serve other guests in other parts of the hotel. “We will also test all who are currently serving SHN at Mandarin Orchard Singapore for Covid-19 infection to determine their status, instead of waiting till their SHN exit swab. ”MOH said that hotels used as SHN dedicated facilities must have in place strict protocols to segregate persons on SHN from all other guests. These include placing persons on SHN in segregated blocks, wings or floors, and ensuring their route of movement is clearly demarcated from other guests. Persons on SHN are also not allowed to leave their rooms during their stay, and rooms are thoroughly disinfected and sanitised upon completion of SHN according to strict infection control measures. “They will also not be allowed access to common facilities in the hotels. The Singapore Tourism Board and Singapore Police Force conduct regular checks on these hotels to ensure that safe management measures are complied with, and that security measures are in place,” said MOH. “The Government takes a serious view of any breach in protocols and will investigate and take actions should there be non-compliance.”

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1979391/prison-inmate-infected-with-covid-19 Prison inmate infected with Covid-19 PUBLISHED : 3 SEP 2020 AT 18:55 UPDATED: 4 SEP 2020 AT 12:33 A male inmate has tested positive for the coronavirus and has been moved from the prison to a hospital run by the Corrections Department. Heath officials announced on Thursday evening that the infected man had until recently worked in Bangkok as a pub DJ and at First Cafe on Khao San Road. People who had been close to him were being monitored, but no other infections had been detected to date. People who had no direct contact with the man were not in the "high risk" group. Health officials were confident the situation was under control. Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, said earlier on Thursday the prisoner's first test for the Covid-19 virus returned positive. The inmate, a 37-year-old man, was imprisoned at the Central Special Correctional Institution on drug charges on Aug 26 with 34 other prisoners and officials, according to the Disease Control Department. The first test conducted by Mahidol University on Wednesday found he was infected with the virus and he was immediately transferred to the hospital that night. The tests on the 34 others returned negative. The Disease Control Department collected a sample from the patient on Thursday for a second test, to be done by the Department of Medical Science, for confirmation. The new case ends the run of 100 days when Thailand had no local infections. Walairat Chaifoo, the director of the Epidemiology Bureau, said the man showed symptoms on Tuesday but it was not clear whether it was Covid-19 until the test on Thursday. Before being imprisoned, he lived at Ban Suan Thon condominium in Bang Mod area of Thung Kru district with five other family members. All have been quarantined. "They are a risk group," she said. Dr Walailak said the man worked as a DJ at the 3 Days 2 Nights pub and restaurant on Rama III and Rama V branches. A press statement issued by the Disease Control Department said he also worked at a coffee shop on Khao San Road. Dr Walailak said pubgoers who had no direct contact with the patient were not in the high risk group. Officials are monitoring the conditions of about 20 people who were at the court with him, including his lawyer. Department of Disease Control director-general Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai said the new local infection was not the start of the second wave, and he was confident the situation could be kept under control. "If we keep the situation under control, there will be no new outbreak," he said. Dr Suwannachai called for calm and urged people not to lower their guard against the disease.

Hi, I'm asking something a question with regards to medication, it'll be great if somebody can answer. Anti-Inflammatory drugs like Arcoxia (Etoricoxib), Celebrex (Celecoxib), etc do they treat infection as well? I'm asking because I thought Antibiotics are prescribed to treat infection while anti-inflammatory drugs are for inflammation? TIA!

CNA : Recent spike in bacterial infection cases: Authorities probing link to raw fish SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Health and various agencies are investigating the increase in cases of Group B streptococcus (GBS) infection, which have been linked with the consumption of raw fish, the ministry said on Monday (Jul 13). One of the larger hospitals in Singapore saw an average of about 53 cases of GBS infection each year in the past five years, with a range of 31 to 73 cases a year. However, it has treated about 76 cases so far this year and in 10 of these cases, recent consumption of raw fish was reported, MOH said in reply to queries by Channel NewsAsia. "Investigations are ongoing as to the reason(s) for the increase in cases," the ministry added. Earlier on Monday, MOH said it was aware of a message circulating claiming there has been an outbreak of GBS due to consumption of contaminated raw fish. The message said all the people who had taken ill had consumed "yusheng", a popular dish at hawker centres, where raw fish is marinated in sesame oil and garnished with red chilli and ginger. link : http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/recent-spike-in-bacterial/1982524.html

Just them sharing their experience and they found out about certain media coverage. Nothing "political" here as highlighted them - Just presenting facts vs media stories. Interestingly, the topic isn't about the virus but rather something else even more dangerous for all of us. Some Mod has concern with my postings, so not sure if Thread will pass his censorship. HA!

http://health.asiaone.com/Health/News/Stor...513-141063.html

Think getting old, just got it couple of days ago, now still not recover . How come other than pee pain also feel like go dump poo huh? I ask doctor, he say normal

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin...1084132/1/.html MM Lee hospitalised for chest infection Posted: 29 September 2010 2158 hrs SINGAPORE: Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew was hospitalised on Wednesday evening. A statement from his Press Secretary said: "Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew was planning to attend Dr Balaji's (Senior Minister of State Balaji Sadasivan) wake this evening, but the doctors at SGH have just admitted him for treatment of a chest infection." - CNA/ir