Singapore looking into Malaysian COVID-19 case for visit to local casino
Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) said Sunday that it was investigating a Malaysian truck driver who tested positive for COVID-19 and had visited a local casino earlier.
The driver was denied entry into Singapore on Feb. 18 after testing positive for COVID-19 for an antigen rapid test (ART) at Woodlands Checkpoint linking Singapore and Malaysia.
His previous trip to Singapore was on Feb. 8, when he tested negative for COVID-19 for his ART at the checkpoint. The investigations found that he had visited Singapore's Resorts World Sentosa Casino on Feb. 9 before departing for Malaysia on the same day.
The MOH said the Malaysian driver is not included in the case count as he had been denied entry into Singapore after his positive ART test, but they will take all the necessary public health actions as a precautionary measure, including placing all identified close contacts on quarantine.
According to the MOH, Malaysian truck drivers are not allowed to mingle in the Singaporean community other than for delivery purposes and are not to stay overnight in Singapore.
"Investigations are ongoing to assess if there had been any breach of the relevant prevailing measures," the ministry said in a statement.
Singapore reported 11 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the country's tally to 59,869. All the new cases were imported ones.
Also on Sunday, 12 more patients were discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 59,731 patients have recovered in the country, the ministry said.
Currently 22 active cases are being treated in hospitals, with the condition of most of them being stable or improving. One of them is in critical condition and being treated in the intensive care unit.
A total of 87 who have mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19 are isolated and cared for at community facilities. Twenty-nine have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection in Singapore.