48 new Covid-19 infections reported, 2 new clusters emerge in previously cleared dormitories

SINGAPORE — Singapore has confirmed 48 new cases of Covid-19, including five that are imported and two that are in the community. The remaining 41 are migrant workers staying in dormitories.

All the infections were asymptomatic, the Ministry of Health (MOH) noted. 

The ministry also identified the formation of two new clusters of infections at the dormitories. The two — Cochrane Lodge II and Westlite Toh Guan dormitory — had both previously been cleared of the coronavirus.

In a press release on Thursday (Sept 3), MOH said that the five new imported cases comprise two Singaporeans, one permanent resident, one long-term visit pass holder and one work permit holder.

They had arrived in Singapore from Bangladesh, India, the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates between Aug 22 and 31.

All of them had been placed on a 14-day stay-home notice and tested positive while serving their notices at dedicated facilities.

The two cases in the community are a 56-year-old permanent resident and a 45-year-old work permit holder. Both men have no known links to past cases or infections.

They were detected as a result of the ministry’s Rostered Routine Testing of workers in the construction, marine and process sectors who are not staying at dormitories.

MOH noted that the serological test result for the permanent resident had come back positive, which indicates “a likely past infection”.

Investigations are ongoing for both cases.

“In the meantime, all the identified close contacts of the cases have been isolated and placed on quarantine, and will be tested at the start and end of their quarantine period so that we can detect asymptomatic cases.

“We will also conduct serological tests for their household contacts to determine if they could have been infected by them,” MOH said.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has gone up, from an average of two cases a day in the week before to an average of three in the past week.

The number of cases in the community with no known sources of infection has also increased from an average of one case a day in the week before to an average of two day in the past week.

Of the 41 new cases involving migrant workers in dormitories, 22 had been identified earlier as contacts of previous cases.

The remaining 19 were detected through surveillance testing, such as the Rostered Routine Testing and the testing of those with acute respiratory infection symptoms.

UPDATES ON REMAINING CASES

The total number of infections in Singapore now stands at 56,908.

Of these, 56,028 people have fully recovered and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities, including 137 on Thursday.

There are still 52 patients in hospitals and most are in stable condition or improving. No one is in intensive care.

Another 801 patients are isolated and being cared for at community facilities. They have mild symptoms or are clinically well but still tested positive for Covid-19.

Twenty-seven people have died from complications due to Covid-19.