Singapore examines 13 diseases at a quarantine hotel
‘High genetic similarity’ visible although people came from 10 different countries
A view of the Mandarin Orchard Hotel in Singapore. (Reuters photo)
SINGAPORE: Singapore is investigating 13 cases of Covid-19 diseases among people who donated their quarantine at a hotel on the city’s Orchard Road shopping strip.
The cases had a “high genetic similarity”, all taken into account, despite the victims coming from 10 different countries, the government said in a statement Saturday. Singapore said it is conducting a full-genome and phylogenetic analysis of all Covid-19 cases, and it will take about four weeks to complete the virus culture and series.
The people were diagnosed with Covid-19 between November 2 and 11, and had stayed at the Mandarin Orchard hotel Singapore between October 22 and November 11. They reached places including Bahrain, Canada, Indonesia , Myanmar, the Netherlands, the Philippines, South Korea, the UAE, the UK and the US.
“Epidemiological investigations were immediately initiated to establish a possible link between these 13 cases, and to investigate the possibility of a local referral, and not from the country of origin, ”the statement said. From “preliminary investigations, we cannot rule out that transmissions may have taken place at the Mandarin Orchard Singapore.”
Authorities are analyzing more cases beyond Nov. 11. The hotel stopped taking visitors for quarantine purposes from Dec. 13. Those currently serving the alert will transfer their home stay to another facility, the government said.
Mandarin Orchard is one of the hotels approved by authorities to offer accommodation packages to Singapore residents who love to relax and cannot leave the country due to travel restrictions. While those on quarantine stay on specific floors and are separated from other guests, the hotel will take care of all residents as a precautionary measure, and will close all restaurants and restaurants. event venue.
The health ministry is also testing about 500 employees at the hotel for Covid-19.
For the past two months, the number of diseases in the community has been at or near zero in a city of 5.7 million people.