61 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore, lowest daily figure since April 2

Migrant workers living in dormitories made up the vast majority of confirmed cases. PHOTO: ST FILE

SINGAPORE - A total of 61 new Covid-19 patients were announced by the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Tuesday (Aug 11), the lowest daily total in more than four months since April 2, when 49 new infections were reported.

Two young children were among the new cases. The first, a one-year-old Singaporean girl, experienced onset of symptoms last Saturday. She was one of two patients in the community announced on Tuesday. Both are family members and were linked to previous cases. They were tested while under quarantine, said MOH.

The other baby was a three-year-old girl, a long-term visit pass holder. The Indian national was asymptomatic when tested, and was one of three imported patients announced on Tuesday.

All three had arrived from India, and had been placed on 14-day stay-home notices upon arrival in Singapore. They had been tested while serving their notices, said MOH.

Meanwhile, Bukit Timah Market & Food Centre, 111 Somerset and a FairPrice outlet at Bukit Panjang Plaza were added to the list of places visited by coronavirus patients while they were infectious.

The ministry provides the list of locations and the times that infectious Covid-19 patients have 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.

It 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.

Migrant workers living in dormitories made up the remaining 56 new coronavirus patients announced on Tuesday, taking Singapore's total to 55,353.

111 Somerset, Bukit Timah Market & Food Centre and a FairPrice outlet at Bukit Panjang Plaza were added to the list of places visited by coronavirus patients while they were infectious. PHOTOS: ST FILE, SCREENGRAB FROM GOOGLE MAPS, LIANHE WANBAO

MOH added that 37 clusters in dormitories have been closed, and the dormitories now house only recovered individuals and those who have recently tested negative for Covid-19 infection.

About 22,500 workers are still serving out their quarantine periods as of Tuesday.

These workers will be tested when their isolation ends, and MOH expects the number of cases announced daily to remain high, before tapering down.

The number of new daily cases in the community has remained stable at an average of two cases per day in the past two weeks.

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

With 519 cases discharged on Tuesday, 50,113 patients have fully recovered from the disease.

A total of 104 patients remained in hospital, while 5,094 were recuperating in community facilities. None were in intensive care.

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

Globally, the virus outbreak, which began in December last year, has infected over 20.2 million people. More than 737,000 people have died.

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