17-year-old Singaporean returning from the United Kingdom among 12 new Covid-19 cases

[SINGAPORE] There were 12 new coronavirus cases confirmed as of Tuesday (Dec 8), taking Singapore's total to 58,285.

All 12 cases were imported and had been placed on stay-home notices on arrival in Singapore, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

The new cases comprised one Singaporean, two permanent residents, eight work permit holders and one short-term visit pass holder.

The Singaporean, a 17-year-old girl returning from the United Kingdom, experienced the onset of symptoms on Monday and was confirmed positive on Tuesday.

The other two symptomatic cases included a 40-year-old man who is a permanent resident and a 30-year-old woman who is a work permit holder.

Both patients travelled here from Indonesia and experienced symptoms last Saturday and Monday respectively.

The remaining nine cases were asymptomatic and were detected through proactive screening and surveillance, the ministry said on Tuesday night.

They include the other permanent resident, a 37-year-old woman who returned from India, and seven work permit holders currently employed in Singapore who travelled from Indonesia and Myanmar.

The last case - a short term visit pass holder who arrived from Qatar - was already receiving medical care in Singapore and had returned for further treatment.

They were all tested while serving their stay-home notices at dedicated facilities.

There were no new cases in workers' dormitories and none in the community on Tuesday.

MOH said the number of new cases in the community has remained low, with a total of one case in the past week, that is linked to a previous case.

With eight cases discharged on Tuesday, 58,161 patients have fully recovered from the disease.

A total of 23 patients remain in hospital, with none in intensive care, while 57 patients are recuperating in community facilities.

Singapore has had 29 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while 15 who tested positive have died of other causes.

Globally, the virus outbreak, which began in December last year, has infected more than 67 million people. More than 1.5 million people have died.

THE STRAITS TIMES