Seven new Covid-19 cases, including one in community

MOH reported seven new cases of Covid-19. ST PHOTO: GIN TAY

Singapore confirmed seven new coronavirus cases yesterday, including one in the community for the first time in four days.

The lone community case is a permanent resident who is a family member of two previously confirmed imported cases, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said last night.

His family members had arrived from Indonesia on Sept 25, and were granted permission to serve their stay-home notices at home as one is a two-month-old infant, the ministry said.

The new case had been placed on stay-home notice due to his exposure to them, and developed symptoms during quarantine. He subsequently tested positive for Covid-19.

The other new patients yesterday comprise one locally transmitted case in a worker's dormitory, as well as five imported cases who were placed on stay-home notices or isolated upon arrival in Singapore.

The asymptomatic case in the dormitory was picked up through routine bi-weekly testing, MOH said.

Of the imported cases, one is a permanent resident who returned from Belarus and one is a Singapore citizen who returned from Qatar.

Another is a work pass holder who had arrived from France, while the remaining two were sea crew who arrived in Singapore from the Philippines to board a ship docked here.

They were taken directly from the airport to the ship in a dedicated vehicle and did not leave the ship subsequently, MOH said.

All imported cases were placed on 14-day stay-home notices upon arrival in Singapore, and tested positive despite being asymptomatic.

Takashimaya in Ngee Ann City, Don Don Donki in Square 2 @ Novena, Joeun Salon in Far East Plaza and the Kushikatsu Tanaka restaurant in Merchant Court were also added yesterday to a list of places visited by infectious Covid-19 patients.

  • Update on cases

  • New cases: 7

    Imported: 5 (1 Singaporean, 1 permanent resident, 2 special pass holders, 1 work pass holder)

    In community: 1 (1 PR)

    In dormitories: 1

    Active cases: 141

    In hospitals: 40 (1 in ICU)

    In community facilities: 101

    Deaths: 27

    Patients with Covid-19 who died from other causes: 15

    Total discharged: 57,683

    Discharged yesterday: 23

    TOTAL CASES: 57,866

MOH provides the list of locations that infectious Covid-19 patients visited for at least 30 minutes to get people who were there to monitor their health closely for two weeks from the date of their visit.

The full list of locations and times can be found on the gov.sg website.

The ministry has said that close contacts would already have been notified and that there is no need to avoid these places as they would have been cleaned if necessary.

Yesterday's new cases bring Singapore's total to 57,866.

The number of new cases in the community has remained stable at an average of one case per day in the past two weeks, MOH said.

The number of unlinked cases in the community has also remained stable at an average of fewer than one case per day over the same period.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on October 11, 2020, with the headline Seven new Covid-19 cases, including one in community. Subscribe