175 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore, including 1 in the community

[SINGAPORE] There were 175 new coronavirus cases confirmed as of Sunday noon taking Singapore's total to 55,104.

They included one community case who is Singaporean, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

There were also three imported cases who had been placed on stay-home notices upon arrival in Singapore.

Migrant workers living in dormitories made up t he vast majority of the other cases.

More details will be announced on Sunday night.

On Saturday, a dormitory at 35 Kian Teck Way emerged as a new cluster of Covid-19 infections, MOH said.

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The cluster was linked to 18 newly confirmed cases and seven earlier cases, said MOH, which also confirmed 132 new coronavirus cases on Saturday.

Saturday's sole new case in the community was a 60-year-old Singaporean woman who is a close contact of an earlier case and was tested for the virus while under quarantine.

There were also six imported cases. This group comprised one work pass holder, two work permit holders and three dependant's pass holders who arrived in Singapore from India, Indonesia and the United States between July 26 and 27.

All six were asymptomatic, but tested positive for the virus while serving their stay-home notices at the designated facilities.

Migrant workers residing in dormitories made up the remaining 125 cases.

All workers in dormitories have been tested, with the exception of those living in a few standalone blocks in dorms that act as quarantine facilities, the ministry had said.

"The workers in these quarantine facilities will be tested when their isolation ends, and we expect the case counts to remain high in the coming days, before tapering down thereafter," said MOH.

The ministry also said the number of new cases in the community decreased, from an average of three cases per day in the week before, to an average of two per day in the past week.

The number of unlinked cases in the community remained stable at an average of one case per day in the past 14 days.

Another 271 cases have been discharged, which means that as of Saturday, a total of 48,568 patients have fully recovered from the disease.

There were 145 Covid-19 patients still in hospital and 6,174 patients were recuperating in community facilities here.

Most patients are improving and in a stable condition. None is in the intensive care unit.

Singapore has had 27 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while 15 who tested positive have died of other causes.

Globally, the virus outbreak, which began in December last year, has infected more than 19.5 million people. More than 724,000 people have died.

THE STRAITS TIMES