SINGAPORE – The number of Filipinos with the novel coronavirus in Singapore rose to 9 on Saturday, March 14, after two more, one of whom recently visited the Philippines, were diagnosed with COVID-19. 

Singapore’s 205th case of the novel coronavirus disease is a 30-year-old Filipina who visited the Philippines from February 27 to March 6, according to the city-state’s Ministry of Health (MOH). She holds a long-term visit pass in Singapore. 

Case 205 was confirmed to have COVID-19 on Saturday morning, and is now confined in an isolation room at Singapore’s National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID).

Singapore classified her as an “imported case,” which means she contracted COVID-19 outside the city-state.

The other Filipino coronavirus case on Saturday, Case 211, is also a long-term visit pass holder. Aged 35, she was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Saturday, and is likewise confined at NCID. 

Case 211 is linked to Case 142, who was linked to a cluster involving a private dinner at Safra Jurong in Singapore. 

Don’t travel to PH

The new Filipino cases in Singapore come as the city-state cautions its nationals against traveling to the Philippines. The MOH said the Philippines is one of the countries that have exported coronavirus cases to Singapore.

On Saturday, another new coronavirus case in Singapore was reported to be linked to an earlier Filipino patient.

The MOH said Case 190, a 53-year-old Singaporean without any travel history to affected countries, is linked to Case 172, a 42-year-old Filipina worker in Singapore. Case 172 had visited the Philippines from February 27 to March 2.

Meanwhile, the MOH said one of the earliest Filipino coronavirus patients in Singapore – Case 102 – has fully recovered and has been discharged from the hospital as of Saturday. Case 102 is a domestic helper whose employer and Filipina co-worker in the same household contracted COVID-19.

Singapore has had 212 novel coronavirus cases as of Saturday.

Of this number, 105, including two Filipinos, have fully recovered from COVID-19, while 11 remain in critical condition. Singapore has recorded zero deaths since reporting its first case of the novel coronavirus on January 23.

The Philippines has had 111 cases of the novel coronavirus, including 8 deaths, as of Saturday, after the number of patients rose exponentially in the past few days, prompting a lockdown of Metro Manila. – Rappler.com