SINGAPORE - The 83-year-old man on board Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas cruise ship has tested negative for Covid-19, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday night (Dec 9).

Earlier, MOH announced that the man had tested positive for the Covid-19 infection on Wednesday morning, and was immediately isolated.

He had reported to the on-board medical centre with diarrhoea, and was tested for the infection using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test equipment on the ship.

His original PCR sample was retested at the National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) and came back negative for Covid-19 infection, the MOH said. A second fresh sample was tested and also found to be negative.

The NPHL will conduct another test on Thursday to confirm his Covid-19 status, added the ministry.

All the identified close contacts of the case have been isolated as a precautionary measure and all passengers will undergo mandatory Covid-19 testing before they are allowed to leave the terminal at Marina Bay Cruise Centre.

As a precaution, passengers are also required to monitor their health for 14 days from the date of disembarkation and undergo a swab test at the end of the monitoring period, MOH said.

There were six new coronavirus cases confirmed as at Wednesday night, taking Singapore's total to 58,291.

All six cases were imported and had been placed on stay-home notice on arrival in Singapore, said the MOH.

The new cases comprised one Singaporean, two permanent residents and three work permit holders who are currently employed in Singapore.

The first, a 37-year-old work permit holder who arrived from Indonesia, experienced the onset of symptoms on Nov 25 and was confirmed positive on Tuesday. She was also a contact of a previous case.

The remaining five cases were asymptomatic and were detected through proactive screening and surveillance, the ministry said.

The Singaporean is a 64-year-old man who returned from Indonesia.

The two permanent residents are a 39-year-old man and a 8-year-old girl who returned from India, the latter is linked to a previous case.

Another two work permit holders arrived from Indonesia.

They were all tested while serving their stay-home notice at dedicated facilities.

There were no cases from worker dormitories and none in the community.

MOH said the number of new cases in the community has remained low, with a total of one case in the past week that is linked to a previous case.

With six cases discharged on Wednesday, 58,167 patients have fully recovered from the disease.

A total of 20 patients remain in hospital, with none in intensive care, while 60 patients are recuperating in community facilities.

Singapore has had 29 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while 15 who tested positive have died of other causes.