SINGAPORE - Another Raffles Girls' School (RGS) student was among the three community cases announced on Friday (Jan 1).

The 14-year-old Singaporean is a friend of an earlier confirmed case, who is a family member of a permanent resident - a marine surveyor at Lloyd's Register Singapore - who was also a confirmed case.

The teen had visited her friend at her home on Dec 27 for a few hours while the marine surveyor was present.

As a result, the girl, who was last in school in October, was identified as a close contact on Tuesday and placed on quarantine, said the Ministry of Health.

She developed a fever the next day and was taken to KK Women's and Children's Hospital in an ambulance, where she was tested for the virus, added the ministry.

Her test result came back positive for the infection on Thursday.

Her serological test result has also come back negative, indicating that it is likely a current infection, said MOH.

The second community case is a 52-year-old Singaporean woman who works as a client analyst at Deutsche Bank (One Raffles Quay) but does not interact with clients or external parties.

She is a family member of another earlier confirmed case, a Singaporean who works as a harbour pilot, as well as two cases reported on Thursday, said MOH.

She developed symptoms on Monday and sought medical treatment at a general practitioner clinic on Tuesday.

However, she chose not to take a Covid-19 test despite being advised by a doctor to do so.

She was given five days' medical leave during which she had to remain at home.

On Thursday, she placed on quarantine after being identified as a close contact of previous community cases and reported being unwell when contacted by MOH.

Her test result came back positive for Covid-19 after she was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases in an ambulance.

Her serological test result came back negative, indicating there is likely a current infection.

Those advised by their doctors to take a Covid-19 test should do so, to allow early identification of affected individuals and to contain further spread of the virus, the MOH said.

The only unlinked community case is a 53-year-old Japanese man who is employed by Kurosawa and Partners, a management consultancy firm, but works from his home at Rochor Road.

The work pass holder is asymptomatic, and his condition was detected when he took a Covid-19 pre-departure test on Thursday before his return to Japan.

He had arrived in Singapore from Japan on Nov 26 and was placed on stay-home notice (SHN) at a dedicated facility until Dec 10.

A pre-departure test he took on Nov 24 was negative for Covid-19 and his test on Dec 6 during his SHN was negative as well.

His result came back positive for Covid-19 infection on Thursday night and he was conveyed to NCID the next day.

His serological test result has come back positive.

The patient, who identified himself to The Straits Times on Wednesday (Jan 6), was subsequently discharged on Jan 1 according to a memo from NCID seen by ST.

The memo said he was well and deemed non-infectious of Covid-19.

In the statement on Friday (Jan 1), MOH also said that following an investigation of Mandarin Orchard Singapore, it has "determined that there was no further transmission" beyond the 13 cases previously reported.

It has approved the reopening of the hotel from Saturday, including its restaurant and event spaces.

There were also 27 new imported coronavirus cases confirmed on Friday, taking Singapore's total to 58,629.

The 27 were placed on stay-home notices or isolated on arrival in Singapore, said MOH.

Among them, one is Singaporean and four are permanent residents.

There are also five work pass holders, 16 work permit holders, of whom 14 are foreign domestic workers.

The remaining case is a short-term visit pass holder who arrived from Indonesia to visit his Singaporean child.

The imported cases came from several countries including Indonesia, India and Myanmar.

Restaurants at Chijmes, Tanjong Pagar as well as Takashimaya Department Store at Ngee Ann City were among the new places visited by Covid-19 patients while they were still infectious, said MOH.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased from one case in the week before to 10 cases in the past week.

The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from one case in the week before to four cases in the past week.

A total of 56 patients remain in hospital while 85 are recuperating in community facilities. One patient is in critical condition in the intensive care unit.