Coronavirus: Singapore

Six community cases, lowest figure since May 10

Only one unlinked case among them; S'pore heading in right direction, says minister

There were 20 coronavirus cases reported yesterday, of which six are in the community and 14 imported.

The sole unlinked community case yesterday is a 13-year-old student at Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' School in Hougang.

She developed anosmia - or the loss of smell - on May 29 but did not seek treatment until last Friday.

Her test result came back positive last Saturday.

The six community cases are the lowest since May 10, when there were three community cases.

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said yesterday that Singapore is heading in the right direction, with the number of infections dropping further in the past week.

The remaining five community cases reported yesterday were linked to previous patients and already in quarantine.

Two children were linked to the cluster involving industrial machinery and equipment supplier Tektronix Southeast Asia, which now has seven cases. They are family members as well as household contacts of previous patients. They are a 13-year-old Canberra Secondary School student and a 10-year-old Endeavour Primary School pupil.

A 50-year-old machine operator was added to the NTUC Foodfare (308 Anchorvale Road) cluster, bringing its total to 12.

A 29-year-old Pizza Hut (Bukit Merah) delivery rider staying at Wanderloft Capsule Hostel was added to the McDonald's delivery riders cluster, taking its total to 23.

He was swabbed at a general practitioner clinic on May 22 and tested negative. That same day, he was identified as a close contact of previous cases and placed on quarantine. The delivery rider is asymptomatic and was detected during testing last Saturday.

The last community case is a 79-year-old woman who is linked to a new cluster of three associated with an 82-year-old retiree.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has fallen to 116 cases in the past week, from 136 cases in the week before.

The number of unlinked cases in the community has decreased from 23 cases to 17 over the same period.

The Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Pasir Panjang clusters have also been closed, after no new cases were linked to them for 28 days.

Mr Ong noted the percentage of infected people detected during quarantine has risen from 57 per cent to 73 per cent. "This means very little chance for them to move around and spread to others," he said.

Unlinked cases - which Mr Ong previously called the most worrying group - have fallen from 18 per cent to 15 per cent of new cases.

"Let's keep it up," he said.

Yesterday, 14 imported cases were also reported. All of them had been placed on stay-home notice or isolated on arrival here.

Separately, MOH said yesterday that 1,396 residents of Block 506 Hougang Avenue 8 and staff working in shops of neighbouring blocks had tested negative for the virus, while 2,330 visitors to Block 506 as well as residents and visitors of seven neighbouring blocks have also tested negative.

The new cases reported yesterday take Singapore's total to 62,196.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 07, 2021, with the headline Six community cases, lowest figure since May 10. Subscribe