SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 102 new COVID-19 cases as of noon on Thursday (Aug 13), including five in the community and six imported infections, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).
This brings Singapore’s total number of cases to 55,497, with fatalities remaining at 27.
Four of the imported COVID-19 cases reported on Thursday are seafarers who arrived in Singapore on a vessel from India on Aug 8.
The four Philippine nationals, who are special pass holders, are also linked to another Filipino seafarer reported in Wednesday’s update.
The four men, aged between 24 and 33, had not disembarked from the vessel after arriving in Singapore, said MOH.
They reported having symptoms between Aug 9 and 12 and were swabbed while on the vessel, where they had remained until their test results came back positive for COVID-19, said MOH. They were then taken by ambulances to a hospital.
The other two imported cases are Singapore citizens – a 30-year-old man who returned from the Philippines on Aug 11, and a 25-year-old woman who returned from the United Arab Emirates on Aug 1.
They had both been placed on stay-home notice upon their arrival in Singapore and tested while serving their notice.
COMMUNITY CASES
Of the five community cases, one is a Singapore permanent resident and four are work permit holders, said MOH.
The permanent resident, a 44-year-old woman, had been identified as a contact of a previously confirmed case and placed on quarantine earlier. She was tested during quarantine.
The other four community infections are currently unlinked to other cases. The men, aged between 20 and 50, are work permit holders from Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Malaysia.
Three of the cases were identified as a result of periodic screening of workers in essential services who are living outside dormitories.
The remaining case was tested as part of efforts to screen individuals working in frontline COVID-19 operations, MOH said.
The remaining 91 new cases are linked to migrant worker dormitories.
MOH said on Thursday that the number of new cases in the community has remained stable at an average of two cases a day in the past two weeks.
The number of unlinked cases in the community has also remained stable at an average of one case a day in the past two weeks.
“We will continue to closely monitor these numbers, as well as the cases detected through our surveillance programme,” MOH said.
216 more COVID-19 cases have been discharged from hospital, said MOH on Thursday. In all, 50,736 have fully recovered from the infection and been discharged.
NEW LOCATION DED, 10 MORE CLUSTERS CLOSED
MOH on Thursday also added the Golden Village cinema at VivoCity to a list of public places visited by COVID-19 community cases during their infectious period.
The cinema was visited by a COVID-19 case between 3.40pm and 6.25pm on Jul 30.
MOH also announced the closure of 10 more dormitory clusters. They include: 79 Kaki Bukit Industrial Terrace, 9A Tech Park Crescent, 10 Tech Park Crescent, 55 Tuas South Avenue 1, 15 Tuas View Close, 36 Tuas View Square, 38 Tuas View Square, 54/56 Tuas View Square, 145 Tuas View Square and Hai Leck Engineering Pte Ltd (12 Tuas Drive 1).
The dormitories have been cleared by the inter-agency taskforce and now house only recovered individuals and those who have recently tested negative for COVID-19 infection, MOH said.
SINGAPORE TO RESUME ESSENTIAL TRAVEL WITH JAPAN
Singapore and Japan on Thursday announced that both countries have agreed to resume essential business travel, with officials tasked to finalise the agreement by early September.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan and his Japanese counterpart Motegi Toshimitsu said they welcomed “ongoing negotiations” on the setting up of a special “Residence Track” as early as September this year.
This will provide for a “special quota of cross-border travel by business executives and business professionals (work pass holders)” with the necessary public health safeguards in place, including a 14-day stay-home notice upon arrival in the respective countries, said the statement.
The ministers also agreed on the “major points” of a Business Track (Reciprocal Green Lane), in which short-term business travellers would be subject to a controlled itinerary for the first 14 days of their trip with necessary safeguards in place, added the statement.
The announcement was made during Mr Motegi’s official visit to Singapore from Aug 12 to 14.
Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram