Six new imported cases; cruise passenger tests negative

MOH reported six new Covid-19 cases, which are all imported, on Dec 9, 2020. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Six new coronavirus cases were confirmed yesterday, 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 Ministry of Health (MOH).

The new cases comprise a Singaporean, two permanent residents and three work permit holders who are currently employed here.

One of the work permit holders, a 37-year-old who arrived from Indonesia, experienced the onset of symptoms on Nov 25 and was confirmed positive on Tuesday. She was 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 an eight-year-old girl who returned from India. The girl is linked to a previous case.

The other two work permit holders had arrived from Indonesia.

All six new cases were tested while serving their stay-home notice at dedicated facilities.

There were no new cases from workers' dormitories and none in the community, said the ministry.

MOH also gave an update on the 83-year-old man who had tested positive while aboard the Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas cruise ship. Subsequent tests of his samples were negative for Covid-19, said MOH last night.

  • Update on cases

    New cases: 6

    Imported: 6 (1 Singaporean, 2 permanent residents, 3 work permit holders)

    In community: 0

    In dormitories: 0

    New community cases in the past week: 1

    (0 unlinked cases)

    Active cases: 80

    In hospitals: 20 (0 in ICU)

    In community facilities: 60

    Deaths: 29

    Patients with Covid-19 who died of other causes: 15

    Total discharged: 58,167

    Discharged yesterday: 6

    TOTAL CASES: 58,291

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

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

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

NPHL will conduct another test today to confirm his Covid-19 status, added MOH.

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All the identified close contacts of the man have been isolated as a precautionary measure, and all passengers underwent mandatory Covid-19 testing before they were 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.

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 yesterday, 58,167 patients have fully recovered from Covid-19.

A total of 20 patients are in hospital, 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.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 10, 2020, with the headline Six new imported cases; cruise passenger tests negative. Subscribe