On Friday, Jan. 24, Singapore confirmed two more cases of the Wuhan virus. This comes a day after the first confirmed case was announced.

In a media briefing on Friday, the Ministry of Health said the two patients are a 53-year-old female Chinese national and a 37-year-old male Chinese national. The 37-year-old is the son of Singapore's first confirmed Wuhan case, he is also at Singapore General Hospital (SGH).

All three confirmed cases are Wuhan residents.

The 53-year-old lady arrived on a Scoot flight TR121 from Wuhan on Jan. 21 with one travelling companion, she stayed at J8 hotel, and visited the Orchard area, MBS and Gardens by the Bay.

She was reported to have no fever during the flight. However, she developed a fever, cough, and chills in the afternoon.

Upon presenting herself at Tan Tock Seng Hospital at 8pm on Jan.22, she was immediately placed in isolation. While in Singapore, the lady took public transport and taxis to some of the aforementioned places.

Contact tracing has been initiated to identify close contacts.

First case

A day earlier on Jan. 23, a 66-year-old Chinese national in Singapore was confirmed to be infected with the Wuhan virus.

According to MOH, the man from Wuhan arrived in Singapore with nine others on Jan. 20.

He had reported developing a sore throat but did not have a fever during the flight to Singapore.

He ended up staying at Shangri-La's Rasa Sentosa Resort & Spa.

He was admitted and isolated at SGH on Jan. 22 for further assessment.

The other eight travellers have left Singapore. MOH has informed the authorities of the destination country.

As of Jan. 24, there are 44 suspect cases in Singapore aged between one and 78 years old. Of these, 13 of them have been confirmed to be clear of the virus. The 1-year-old thankfully has been ruled out as a suspect case.

Two out of the 44 suspected cases have no travel history to China. The two suspected cases are related to the first confirmed case.

MOH clarified that the two suspected cases, who are staff members of the hotel, developed respiratory symptoms (not pneumonia symptoms) and they are identified as an "extra caution".

MOH stressed that as of now, there is still no evidence of community spread, and asked people to keep a vigilant watch.

Health advisory from MOH

MOH has issued a health advisory for members of the public to take note in response to the virus outbreak.

All travellers to China are advised to monitor their health closely and seek medical attention promptly if they feel unwell, and also inform their doctor of their travel history.

Members of the public should adopt the following precautions at all times:

• Avoid contact with live animals including poultry and birds, and consumption of raw and undercooked meats;
• Avoid close contact with people who are unwell or showing symptoms of illness;
• Observe good personal hygiene;
• Practise frequent hand washing with soap (e.g. before handling food or eating, after going to toilet, or when hands are dirtied by respiratory secretions after coughing or sneezing);
• Wear a mask if you have respiratory symptoms such as a cough or runny nose;
• Cover your mouth with a tissue paper when coughing or sneezing, and dispose the soiled tissue paper in the rubbish bin immediately; and
• Seek medical attention promptly if you are feeling unwell.

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Image from wikipedia and J8 hotel Facebook