SINGAPORE - A new coronavirus cluster in a Tuas foreign worker dormitory was announced by the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Friday (Sept 11).
The dorm at SCM Tuas Lodge at 80 Tuas South Boulevard has two newly confirmed Covid-19 patients who were linked to three previous cases.
MOH said on Friday that there were 86 new coronavirus cases confirmed as of noon, taking Singapore's total to 57,315.
There were no new community cases but 13 of the new patients were imported.
Three were Singaporeans and seven are permanent residents who returned to Singapore separately from Egypt on Aug 27, India on Aug 28 and Aug 30, and the Philippines on Aug 30.
Another two imported patients were dependant's pass holders who arrived separately from India on Aug 30 and the United States on the same day.
The last patient is a student's pass holder who arrived from India on Aug 30.
There was initially a 14th imported case announced on Friday afternoon but later in the night, MOH said it removed this case after investigations as the patient presented medical records which showed that she had earlier recovered from Covid-19 infection and was no longer infectious.
Migrant workers living in dormitories made up the remaining 73 new coronavirus patients announced on Friday.
Among the 73, 34 were identified as contacts of previous cases, and had already been quarantined to prevent further transmission. They were tested during quarantine to determine their status.
The remaining 39 cases were detected through surveillance testing, such as bi-weekly rostered routine testing of workers living in dormitories.
A total of 33 of the patients staying in dorms were from Avery Lodge Dormitory in Jurong - a cluster which had a total of 68 confirmed cases as of Friday.
The average number of new daily cases in the community in a week has decreased from three cases two weeks ago to two in the past week.
The number of unlinked cases in the community in a week has also decreased from a daily average of two cases to one over the same period.
With 49 cases discharged on Friday, 56,592 patients have fully recovered from the disease.
A total of 49 patients remained in hospital on Friday, with none in intensive care, while 632 were recuperating in community facilities.
Singapore has had 27 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while 15 who tested positive have died of other causes.
