In total, there are 15 confirmed cases on monkeypox reported in Singapore, with 10 local cases. - ST FILE
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): Two new local cases of monkeypox were confirmed on Friday (Aug 5), including the first local linked case.
The linked case is a 54-year-old man, who is a contact of case No. 13, a 33-year-old man whose diagnosis was confirmed on Aug 2, according to an update on the Ministry of Health website.
The other new case on Friday is a 25-year-old male, and unlinked to other cases. He is the youngest reported case here.
In total, there are 15 confirmed cases on monkeypox here, with 10 local cases. The remaining five are imported cases with recent travel history to Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany.
All of them are male.
The ministry had announced on Monday that all monkeypox patients who are deemed clinically stable from Monday would be transferred to a dedicated isolation facility.
The quarantine period for close contacts will now be cut to 14 days, followed by seven days of monitoring for symptoms through phone calls. Previously, the quarantine period was up to 21 days.
The current outbreak of the viral disease emerged in May and has infected more than 18,000 people in 78 countries, said the World Health Organization last Wednesday. It declared the outbreak a global health emergency on July 23.
Some of the symptoms linked to the monkeypox virus include fever, headache, muscle pain, swollen lymph nodes, chills, lethargy and skin rash.
