9 new Covid-19 infections in Singapore; no cases in wider community for second day running

SINGAPORE — Singapore has confirmed nine new cases of Covid-19, including five that are imported and four that are linked to migrant workers staying in dormitories. There are no infections in the wider community for the second day in a row.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Thursday (Oct 8) that all of the fresh cases have no symptoms.

The five imported cases comprise one Singaporean, one work pass holder, one short-term visit pass holder and two special pass holders.

The two special pass holders are both Filipinos who are crew members of a ship that had arrived in Singapore from Malaysia on Sept 23.

The two men, aged 29 and 31, did not disembark from the ship and had been isolated after a previous case tested positive for the coronavirus.

They were swabbed while quarantined on the ship and had remained there until their test results came back that showed they had Covid-19.

They were then taken to a hospital.

The three remaining imported cases had travel history to France, Japan and Nepal and had arrived in Singapore between Sept 25 and Oct 6.

They had been placed on 14-day stay-home notices and tested positive while serving their notices at dedicated facilities.

Overall, MOH said that the number of new cases in the community has remained stable at an average of one case a day in the past two weeks.

The number of cases with no known links in the community has also remained stable at an average of fewer than one a day in the past two weeks.

Among the four new cases involving migrant workers in dormitories, one had been identified earlier as a contact of previous cases.

The remaining three were detected through surveillance testing, such as the MOH’s fortnightly Rostered Routine Testing of workers living in dormitories.

UPDATES ON REMAINING CASES

The total number of infections in Singapore now stands at 57,849.

Of these, 57,668 people have fully recovered and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities, including 44 on Thursday.

There are still 35 patients in hospitals and most are in stable condition or improving, except for one, who is in intensive care.

Another 119 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.