Coronavirus pandemic

Bukit Batok gym among places visited by Covid-19 patients

An ActiveSG gym in Bukit Batok is one of the places visited by Covid-19 patients while they were still infectious. PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM GOOGLE MAPS

An ActiveSG gym in Bukit Batok, a Sheng Siong store in Teban Gardens Road and FairPrice Hub's Decathlon outlet were added by the Ministry of Health (MOH) yesterday to its list of places visited by Covid-19 patients while they were still infectious.

The ministry provides the list of locations and times that infectious Covid-19 patients visited for at least 30 minutes to get those who were at these places at specific periods 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 MOH's 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 needed.

There were 301 new coronavirus cases confirmed by MOH yesterday, taking Singapore's total to 54,555.

They included four community cases comprising two Singaporeans, one permanent resident and a work permit holder.

Of the four community cases, two were picked up as a result of the ministry's proactive surveillance and screening.

Two of these cases are asymptomatic and were detected through MOH's proactive testing.

One of the community cases is linked to a previous case, while the remaining three are currently unlinked.

Epidemiological investigations for the unlinked cases are in progress.

There were also four new imported cases comprising one Singaporean, two work pass holders and one dependant's pass holder.

  • Update on cases

  • New cases: 301

    Imported: 4 (1 Singaporean, 2 work pass holders, 1 dependant's pass holder)

    In community: 4 (2 Singaporeans, 1 PR, 1 work permit holder)

    In dormitories: 293

    Active cases: 6,497

    In hospitals: 112 (0 in ICU)

    In community facilities: 6,385

    Deaths: 27

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

    Total discharged: 48,016

    Discharged yesterday: 263

    TOTAL CASES: 54,555

They had been placed on stay-home notices upon arrival in Singapore from Kazakhstan and India on July 25, and were tested while serving their notices.

The four imported patients, aged between 19 and 49, were confirmed to be positive on Wednesday and yesterday.

Migrant workers living in dormitories made up the 293 remaining cases.

No new clusters were announced yesterday.

MOH also said the inter-agency task force set up to support foreign workers and dormitory operators has been systematically and progressively clearing dormitories through aggressive testing of migrant workers residing in dorms.

Fourteen more of these dorms - which include the ones at 5 Kaki Bukit Industrial Terrace, 10 Kranji Link and 119 Tuas View Walk 1 - have been cleared.

These dorms now house only recovered individuals and those who have recently tested negative for Covid-19 infection. As a result, the coronavirus clusters linked to them have now been closed.

MOH added that the average number of new daily cases in the community in a week has decreased from three cases two weeks ago to two in the past week.

The number of unlinked cases in the community in a week has remained stable at an average of one case per day in the past two weeks.

With 263 cases discharged yesterday, 48,016 patients have fully recovered from the disease.

A total of 112 patients remain in hospital while 6,385 are recuperating in community facilities. None are in intensive care.

Singapore has had 27 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while 15 who tested positive have died of other causes.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 07, 2020, with the headline Bukit Batok gym among places visited by Covid-19 patients. Subscribe