4 of 5 new Covid-19 community cases in Singapore are asymptomatic, detected due to active screening

[SINGAPORE] Four of the five community cases reported on Thursday do not have Covid-19 symptoms and were detected due to proactive screening, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Thursday.

All four are either in essential services or contacts of previous cases. One is a security guard at a dormitory at Tampines Street 62, one works in an essential service, and the other two are housemates of previously confirmed cases who had already been quarantined.

MOH also said that further tests on three of the five community cases on Thursday showed that they were likely to be infected some time ago as they were no longer infectious. Results for the other two are pending.

The sole unlinked case, which is also the only Singaporean case on Thursday, is a 78-year-old man who began showing symptoms on June 4.

The average number of new daily community cases has increased from six cases two weeks ago to eight in the past week. Unlinked community cases has also increased from one to four over the same period. MOH said this is partly due to active surveillance and screening of targeted groups.

On Thursday, there were 422 new coronavirus cases.

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Migrant workers living in dormitories make up the remaining 416 cases, taking Singapore's total to 39,387.

Meanwhile, a 44-year-old Indian male national who died on June 8 was subsequently found to have Covid-19.

He had developed chest and epigastric pain on May 28 and had sought medical treatment at a General Practitioner clinic.

He was later found unconscious at his place of residence on June 8 and taken to Singapore General Hospital's emergency department, where he died from ischaemic heart disease.

He was confirmed to have Covid-19 infection on June 10, two days after his death.

With the latest death, 10 have died of other causes while testing positive for Covid-19. Twenty-five people in Singapore died from the the coronavirus.

The FairPrice Xtra at JEM and Pioneer Mall have also been added to the list of public places visited by Covid-19 patients while they were still infectious.

A case was at the JEM supermarket on June 6 from 3pm to 4pm, while one was at Pioneer Mall on June 8 from 9am to 10.15am.

This list of locations is provided as a precaution to get those who were at these places to monitor their health closely for two weeks from the date of their visit.

They should see a doctor promptly if they develop symptoms such as cough, sore throat, runny nose, fever and loss of taste and smell, MOH said.

The ministry added that the public does not need to avoid these places and that those who are close contacts of the confirmed cases would already have been notified.

The full list of places can be found on MOH's website.

Six new dormitory clusters were also announced on Thursday. They are one at 15 Kaki Bukit Crescent, one at 9 Kian Teck Drive, one at 1A Pioneer Sector Walk, one at Potong Pasir Avenue 1, one at 214 Tagore Land and one at 200A Tuas South Boulevard.

With 754 new cases discharged on Thursday, a total of 27,277 patients have fully recovered from the disease.

As of Thursday, 227 remain in hospital, including two in the intensive care unit, while 11,849 are recuperating in community facilities.

THE STRAITS TIMES