178 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore, including 1 in the community

[SINGAPORE] There were 178 new Covid-19 cases confirmed as of Sunday noon, taking Singapore's total to 45,961.

They include one community case, who is a Singaporean, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Sunday.

There was also one imported case, who had been placed on stay-home notice upon arrival in Singapore.

Migrant workers living in dormitories make up the majority of the other cases.

More details will be announced on Sunday night.

On Saturday, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said a Jurong West Secondary School student, who was among the new community coronavirus patients announced by MOH on Friday night, was linked to a previously confirmed case from the school.

MOE said the student, a 13-year-old girl, is linked to another Secondary 1 student, a 13-year-old boy who was announced by MOH last Tuesday as a coronavirus patient.

Both students are Singaporeans.

The girl was last in school on July 3 and was well, said MOE, adding that she still does not show any symptoms.

Since she was a close contact of her schoolmate who was confirmed to be infected, she had been serving an MOH home quarantine order since last Monday.

As part of MOH's expanded testing regime, she was swabbed, and tested positive for the virus.

About 70 students and staff members who are the remaining close contacts of the infected 13-year-old boy from the same school tested negative for Covid-19.

The school has been cleaned and disinfected several times since last weekend, said MOE, with more disinfection and cleaning of the premises done on Saturday.

Due to the latest case from the school, MOH will also issue home quarantine orders to another six students and four staff members.

The school had placed all Secondary 1 students on home-based learning last Wednesday and Thursday, pending the outcome of MOH's investigations.

As an added precaution, the home-based learning period for Secondary 1 students will be extended until this week, before the start of the one-week mid-term break.

All other levels will resume classes in school on Monday as usual.

The new coronavirus cases on Saturday included 24 community cases, comprising seven Singaporeans, six work pass holders and 11 work permit holders.

Among them is a nine-year-old boy who went to Madrasah Wak Tanjong Al-Islamiah.

He is linked to a 40-year-old man who was announced as a Covid-19 case on Friday. Both of them are Singaporeans.

The average number of new cases in the community per day has increased to 19 in the past week, from nine in the week before.

The average number of unlinked cases in the community per day has increased to nine in the past week, from five in the week before.

There was also one imported case on Saturday - an Indian national who returned to Singapore from India last Monday.

The work pass holder was placed on a 14-day stay-home notice upon arrival, and was tested while serving her notice.

A new Covid-19 cluster was also announced, with four cases at a dormitory at 53L Tuas South Avenue 1.

Among the new places visited by Covid-19 patients while they were still infectious that MOH listed on Saturday are Bugis Street, Bugis+, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority Building and Bedok Point's Challenger outlet.

Food centres were listed too: Geylang Serai Market and Food Centre, Bukit Panjang Hawker Centre and Market, and Block 16 Bedok South Market and Food Centre.

The ministry provides the list, found on MOH's website, to get those who were at these places to monitor their health closely for two weeks from the date of their visit.

MOH said that close contacts would already have been notified and that there is no need to avoid these places as they would have been cleaned if needed.

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