5 new COVID-19 cases linked to Bukit Merah View cluster, bringing total tally to 70 infections

SINGAPORE: Five new community COVID-19 cases reported in Singapore on Saturday (Jun 19) were linked to the Bukit Merah View Market and Food Centre cluster, bringing the size of the cluster to 70 infections.

Two of the five cases linked to the cluster had already been quarantined: A technical executive at Nanyang Polytechnic and an operations staff member at Paxxus.

The remaining three were an 81-year-old retiree, a foreign domestic worker and an administrative worker at J Roger Preston.

In a separate press release, MOH on Saturday said it had detected a total of 21 COVID-19 cases in nine different households at 119 Bukit Merah View, amid an investigation into likely COVID-19 transmission in the vicinity. 

READ: 21 COVID-19 cases detected in 9 different households at 119 Bukit Merah View

OTHER COMMUNITY CASES

There were nine other community infections, including four with no links to previous infections, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in its daily update.

The unlinked cases included a pastry maker at Bakery Point located at Redhill MRT station. The outlet was also added to the ministry's list of places visited by COVID-19 cases while infectious.

The other three cases that were unlinked consisted of a 46-year-old homemaker, an 86-year-old retiree and a foreign domestic worker.

Of the remaining five community cases, a 14-year-old student at Canberra Secondary school was linked to the Tektronix cluster which now has eight infections.

Three cases - two retirees aged 66 and 89, and an administrative worker at Hong Leong Finance (16 Raffles Quay) - were linked to case 64263 who is a foreign domestic worker. The four cases formed a new cluster.

The remaining case was a maid who had been identified as a close contact of another foreign domestic worker, case 64264, and quarantined.

READ: With COVID-19 defences in place, Singapore can 'put circuit breaker as a response behind us' - Ong Ye Kung

IMPORTED CASES

There were also seven imported cases, all of whom had been placed on stay-home notice or isolated upon their arrival in Singapore. The three Singaporeans and four permanent residents returned from India, Thailand and the UAE.

No new infections were reported in migrant workers' dormitories.

In all, Singapore reported 21 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday.

As of Saturday, Singapore has reported a total of 62,403 COVID-19 cases and 34 fatalities from the disease.

MORE CASES DISCHARGED

Thirty-six more COVID-19 cases had been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities, taking the number of those who have fully recovered to 62,023.

A total of 153 were still in hospital, with one in critical condition in the intensive care unit. Another 193 were isolated and were being cared for at community facilities.

IN FOCUS: The rapid rise of the Delta variant and how it is shaping Singapore’s COVID-19 fight

ADJUSTMENT OF REOPENING PLANS

Dining in at F&B outlets will resume from Monday in groups of up to two people instead of five as previously planned.

The group size of two will also apply to indoor fitness activities with masks off.

The adjusted measures under Phase 3 (Heightened Alert) were announced on Friday, amid the emergence of “a small and persistent number of unlinked cases”.

READ: Dining-in, working out: What you can and cannot do from Jun 21 as Singapore's COVID-19 reopening continues

The Health Ministry also said that data from the TraceTogether and SafeEntry systems will be used to strengthen the country’s ringfencing around cases to prevent large clusters from arising.

As part of this, “Health Alerts” via SMS will be sent to people who visited hotspots on the same days as the infected cases and may have been exposed to the virus.

These individuals will be required to undergo mandatory testing at designated testing centres and stay isolated until they receive their results.

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its developments

Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram