93 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore, including 2 in the community and 6 imported

The two community cases are both work pass holders, said the Ministry of Health. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

SINGAPORE - There were 93 new coronavirus cases confirmed as of Wednesday (Aug 19), taking Singapore's total to 56,031.

They included two community cases, both of whom are work pass holders, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

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

Migrant workers living in dormitories made up the vast majority of the other cases.

More details will be announced on Wednesday night.

On Tuesday, a 39-year-old Singaporean man who works at a bus depot in a "non-public facing" role was the sole community case announced by the MOH.

The ministry said the case is currently unlinked, and added that his job "does not entail interaction with commuters and bus captains".

The man was detected as part of the ministry's screening of all staff in the public bus industry who work at depots and interchanges.

The MOH said it has completed testing more than 14,800 staff and close contacts of the cases between July 23 and Saturday, and five results are pending.

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Of those tested, 10 had tested positive using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, including the three initial cases detected at the Bukit Panjang Integrated Transport Hub last month.

The ministry said it also conducted serological tests for the 10 to determine if they had current or past infections. Seven results have come back positive, which indicate likely past infection, it added.

There were also two imported cases among the 100 new cases reported on Tuesday - a permanent resident aged 32 and a dependant's pass holder aged 30, who returned to Singapore from India on Aug 6 and Aug 10 respectively. Both women tested positive on Monday.

Meanwhile, Kallang Wave Mall, Seoul Garden at Bugis Junction and a McDonald's outlet at Bukit Batok Central have been added to the list of places visited by Covid-19 patients while they were still infectious. Other places new to the list on Tuesday were Wan Shun Foodcourt at 888 Plaza and SBCD Korean Tofu House at Guoco Tower.

Migrant workers staying in dormitories made up the remaining 97 new cases announced on Tuesday.

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.

With 183 cases discharged on Tuesday, 52,518 patients have fully recovered. A total of 88 patients remain in hospital, while 3,290 are recuperating in community facilities. None is 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 more than 22.2 million people. More than 783,000 people have died.

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