247 new Covid-19 cases in S’pore; Kopitiam at Our Tampines Hub, Siglap supermarkets among places visited by patients
SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health on Wednesday (June 17) announced 247 new cases of Covid-19 in Singapore, pushing the total to 41,216.
There were five new cases in the community. Of these, two are Singaporeans or permanent residents and the other three are work-permit holders.
The remaining 242 infections were linked to migrant workers in dormitories.
Among the five community cases, MOH said that two were picked up as a result of the ministry’s proactive surveillance and screening. The other three were already in quarantine.
One of the two Singaporeans and permanent residents who contracted the coronavirus was asymptomatic, but was tested as his work involves interacting with security guards at dormitories.
The other is a family member of a previously confirmed case, and had already been quarantined earlier. “She had been swabbed during quarantine to verify her status,” MOH said.
As for the three work-permit holders, MOH said that two were identified as contacts of previously confirmed cases, and had been quarantined at government facilities. They had been swabbed during quarantine to verify their status, even though one case was asymptomatic.
“The remaining case also does not have symptoms, but was tested as part of our efforts to screen workers in essential services,” MOH said.
The health ministry said that besides the polymerase chain reaction coronavirus test, it had also done serological tests to determine if these cases were current or past infections.
“The serological test result for (one case) has come back positive, which indicates (a) likely past infection. The test results for the remaining cases are pending,” MOH said.
Overall, MOH said that the number of new cases in the community had decreased from an average of nine a day in the week before to seven a day this past week.
The number of unlinked cases in the community has also dropped from four a day on average in the week before to three cases a day in the past week.
“We will continue to closely monitor these numbers, as well as the cases detected through our surveillance programme,” MOH said.
MORE PLACES VISITED BY INFECTIOUS PATIENTS
MOH on Wednesday added several places — among them two supermarkets in Siglap, the Kopitiam food court at Our Tampines Hub and a minimart in Desker Road — to a list of public places that had been visited by Covid-19 cases during their infectious period.
The ministry said that the infectious patients had visited:
Cold Storage supermarket at Siglap V on June 5 between 6.15am and 6.55am, and again on June 7 between 7.05am and 7.55am
NTUC FairPrice supermarket at Siglap New Market on June 7 between 8am and 8.30am
Kopitiam at Our Tampines Hub on June 7 between 5.05pm and 5.50pm
SF Chandpur Minimart at 6 Desker Road on June 11 between 8pm and 8.40pm
The ministry said that it had already notified individuals who had been identified as close contacts of the confirmed cases.
"As a precautionary measure, persons who had been at these locations during the specified timings should monitor their health closely for 14 days from their date of visit," the ministry said.
UPDATES ON THE REST OF THE CASES
In all, MOH said that 31,938 people have recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities, including the 775 on Wednesday.
There are 257 patients who are still in hospital.
Of these, most are stable or improving, and two are in critical condition under intensive care.
MOH said that 8,995 patients are being isolated and cared for at community facilities. These are patients with mild symptoms or are clinically well, but still test positive for Covid-19.
Twenty-six people have died from complications due to Covid-19.
