Coronavirus: Sole community case is 39-year-old Singaporean man working at bus depot
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A Singaporean man who works at a bus depot is the sole community case announced on Aug 18, 2020.
ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
A 39-year-old Singaporean man who works at a bus depot in a "non-public facing" role is the sole community case announced by the Ministry of Health (MOH) yesterday.
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.
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.
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 yesterday - 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 yesterday 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 yesterday, taking Singapore's total to 55,938.
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 yesterday, 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.
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Update on cases
New cases: 100
Imported: 2 (1 PR, 1 dependant's pass holder)
In community: 1 (Singaporean)
In dormitories: 97
Active cases: 3,378
In hospitals: 88 (0 in ICU)
In community facilities: 3,290
Deaths: 27
Patients with Covid-19 who died from other causes: 15
Total discharged: 52,518
Discharged yesterday: 183
