8 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore; 7 imported and 1 in the community

Singapore has reported a total of 58,213 coronavirus cases so far. PHOTO: ST FILE

SINGAPORE - There were eight new coronavirus cases confirmed as of Sunday noon (Nov 29), taking Singapore's total to 58,213.

There were seven imported cases who had been placed on stay-home notices on arrival in Singapore.

Sunday's figure also included one community case, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

The ministry said based on its investigations so far, the case is a migrant worker residing in the community, and was detected during community surveillance testing of stallholders in and around Tekka Centre on Thursday (Nov 26).

"His serological test result has come back positive, which indicates likely past infection," said MOH.

More details will be announced on Sunday night.

On Saturday, MOH said a 68-year-old man, who had a history of hypertension and heart disease, died from complications due to Covid-19.

The Singaporean is the 29th patient to die from the virus here, while 15 who tested positive have died of other causes.

He had travelled to Indonesia on March 10 for work, and returned to Singapore on Nov 17 after experiencing shortness of breath on Nov 11. Upon arrival here, he was admitted to hospital.

The man was confirmed to have the Covid-19 infection on Nov 18 and died on Friday.

The cause of death was determined to be ischaemic heart disease with Covid-19, said MOH on Saturday.

The National University Hospital has reached out to the man's family and is extending assistance to them.

The last patient to die here from Covid-19-related complications was a 64-year-old man, as reported by MOH on Oct 12. He was diagnosed with the coronavirus on Oct 4.

Six new coronavirus cases here were announced by MOH on Saturday, including a locally transmitted community case.

The local case is a 60-year-old Singaporean woman who sells mutton with a co-worker at a stall in Tekka Market.

She lives in Yishun Street 22 with her husband, who has been working at Mustafa Centre for the past few years. She regularly visits her children who live in Bishan Street 13 and Tampines Street 86.

She was asymptomatic and was detected from MOH's surveillance testing of stallholders in and near Tekka Centre on Thursday.

MOH said all her identified close contacts, including her family members and co-worker, have been isolated and placed in quarantine.

They will be tested at the start and end of their quarantine period to detect any asymptomatic cases.

The ministry will also conduct serological tests on the woman's household and family contacts to determine if she could have been infected by them.

The remaining five new cases announced on Saturday were imported, and were placed on stay-home notices on arrival in Singapore.

There were no new cases from workers' dormitories on Saturday, said MOH.

With eight cases discharged on Saturday, 58,119 patients have fully recovered from the disease in Singapore.

A total of 32 patients remained in hospital on Saturday, while 25 were recuperating in community facilities.

Globally, the virus outbreak, which began in December last year, has infected more than 62.2 million people. More than 1.45 million people have died.

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