7 new Covid-19 cases in S'pore, all imported

Singapore reported seven new cases of Covid-19, all imported, on Nov 7, 2020. ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG

SINGAPORE - There were seven new coronavirus cases confirmed as of noon on Saturday (Nov 7), all of whom were imported.

They were placed on stay-home notices on arrival in Singapore, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Saturday.

There were no new cases in the community or from worker's dormitories, for the second day in a row.

Saturday's new cases take Singapore's total to 58,054.

Among the seven imported cases, two are Singaporeans - a 59-year-old woman who had been to the United Kingdom and a 46-year-old man who had travelled to Canada.

Another one is a permanent resident, a 55-year-old woman who had been to South Korea.

Two of the new cases are currently employed here - a 28-year-old male work pass holder who arrived from the Netherlands, and a 36-year-old male work permit holder who came from Malaysia.

The remaining two cases are short-term visit pass holders.

One, a 69-year-old woman, was permitted entry into Singapore from the UK to visit her child who is a PR.

The other is a 25-year-old man who arrived from Ukraine to board a ship docked here as a crew member.

Of the new cases, five are asymptomatic and were detected from MOH's proactive screening and surveillance, while two were symptomatic.

The ministry said that all identified close contacts of the cases have been isolated and quarantined. They will be tested at the start and end of their quarantine period to detect asymptomatic cases.

It will also conduct serological tests for the close contacts to determine if the cases could have been infected by them.

MOH added that the cluster in Westlite Toh Guan Dormitory at 18 Toh Guan Road East has been closed as there have been no new cases linked to it for two incubation periods, or 28 days.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has remained low, with a total of one such case in the past week who is currently unlinked.

With nine cases discharged on Saturday, 57,953 patients have fully recovered from the disease.

A total of 34 patients remain in hospital, with none in intensive care, while 24 are recuperating in community facilities.

Singapore has had 28 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while 15 who tested positive have died of other causes.

On Friday, four new imported cases were confirmed, said MOH.

No new cases from the community or in worker's dormitories were announced.

Among the four imported cases, three are currently employed here.

Of these, one is a work pass holder. The 31-year-old French woman arrived from France.

Another is a 30-year-old female Filipino work permit holder who arrived from the Philippines.

The last patient working here is a 34-year-old British engineer. He is holding a short-term visit pass and arrived here from the United Kingdom for a work project.

All three had been placed on stay-home notices on arrival in Singapore and were tested while serving their notices.

The remaining imported patient is a special pass holder who is a crew member of a ship that arrived from the United States. The 25-year-old American woman had not disembarked and was swabbed on board the vessel when it arrived here.

The ministry added that the cluster at Tuas South Dormitory has been closed as there have been no new cases linked to it for two incubation periods, or 28 days.

In a separate statement on Friday, MOH and the Ministry of Manpower said workers who have recovered from Covid-19 have been exempted from rostered routine testing since Wednesday, with some exceptions. Those who show symptoms suggestive of acute respiratory illness 90 days after contracting Covid-19 will continue to be tested for the virus.

Being the earliest cohort of workers in Singapore to have recovered from Covid-19, those who experienced the onset of illness before April 16 will also undergo monitoring tests to help the authorities decide when to resume routine testing for other recovered workers.

Globally, the virus outbreak, which began in December last year, has infected more than 48 million people. More than 1.2 million people have died.

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