[SINGAPORE] A new coronavirus cluster - a dormitory at 10 Tech Park Crescent in Tuas - was announced on Thursday (June 18).

The cluster includes two new Covid-19 patients confirmed on Thursday. They are linked to two previous cases, meaning that the cluster has four cases, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

It is the first time a new cluster has been announced after no new clusters were announced for two successive days.

A total of 257 new Covid-19 patients were confirmed on Thursday by the ministry, taking Singapore's total to 41,473.

This included four community cases - one permanent resident and three work permit holders.

The three work permit holders were already in quarantine when they tested positive for Covid-19.

They had been identified as close contacts of previous cases and were swabbed to verify their status. Two of them are asymptomatic.

The PR, a 38-year-old man, was picked up by MOH's active screening of those working in essential services. He is also asymptomatic.

Further tests showed that three of the four cases were likely infected some time ago and are no longer infectious. The test result for the remaining case is pending.

Migrant workers living in dormitories make up the remaining 253 cases.

Thursday's figure is slightly higher than the 247 cases reported on Wednesday but is lower than the daily average of 321 in the past seven days.

The average number of new daily community cases has also come down from eight cases two weeks ago to seven in the past week. The average unlinked community cases per day has fallen from four to three over the same period.

MOH also said that the cluster at Orange Valley Nursing Home has been closed as no new cases have been reported in the past 28 days, or two incubation cycles of the virus.

With 774 new cases discharged on Thursday, 32,702 patients have fully recovered from the disease.

A total of 225 patients remain in hospital, including two in the intensive care unit, while 8,510 are recuperating in community facilities.

Singapore has had 26 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while 10 who tested positive have died of other causes.

THE STRAITS TIMES