42 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore, all imported

[SINGAPORE] There were 42 new coronavirus cases confirmed as of noon on Sunday, taking Singapore's total to 58,638.

They were all imported cases who had been placed on stay-home notices or isolated on arrival in Singapore, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

There were no cases in the community or in worker's dormitories.

More details will be announced on Sunday night.

On Saturday night, the Health ministry announced that total of 234 staff working at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport had tested negative for Covid-19.

The ministry last Thursday announced a special testing operation of all hotel staff after two unlinked cases were found among the staff. A third confirmed case emerged on Friday.

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It closed the hotel from Friday to Jan 21 as a precautionary measure.

The three cases were a 20-year-old male Singaporean, a 24-year-old male Korean national and a 43-year-old Malaysian woman.

The Singaporean had tested positive for the more infectious UK strain of Covid-19 and his case was pending further confirmatory tests on Friday.

All three hotel workers had delivered pre-packed meals to air crew and hotel guests.

"From our preliminary investigations, we cannot exclude that transmissions could have occurred at the hotel," said MOH in Saturday's press release.

On Saturday night, MOH also confirmed 29 new Covid-19 cases, all of which were imported.

They included four Singaporeans, one of whom is a 71-year-old man who returned from India and was asymptomatic. The other three arrived from Sweden and the United Kingdom.

There were also three dependant's pass holders who arrived from the United Arab Emirates, India and the Maldives.

Also among the imported cases was a special pass holder who is a sea crew member. He arrived from Indonesia on board a vessel and was swabbed upon arrival. He was taken to the hospital when his test result came back positive for Covid-19 infection.

Meanwhile, Indian restaurant Sri Aachi Aappakadai in Little India was added to the list of places visited by Covid-19 patients while they were still infectious, said MOH.

With 31 cases discharged on Saturday, 58,596 patients have fully recovered from the disease.

A total of 67 patients remain in hospital, including one in the intensive care unit, while 158 are recuperating in community facilities. Singapore has had 29 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while 15 who tested positive have died of other causes.

Globally, the virus outbreak, which began in December 2019, has infected more than 88 million people. More than 1.89 million people have died.

THE STRAITS TIMES