Covid-19: Public healthcare worker among 611 new cases recorded on Friday; 9 community cases in total

[UPDATED, 11.20pm]

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed 611 new coronavirus cases in Singapore today (May 29). 

Out of these, there are nine community cases while the remaining cases come from Work Permit holders living in dormitories.

Of the nine community cases, three are Singaporeans/Permanent Residents while four are Work Permit holders, and two are Work Pass holders.

Among the new community cases is a 25-year-old Singaporean who has no recent travel history to affected countries or regions. She is employed as a physiotherapist at Changi General Hospital, but had not gone to work since onset of symptoms on May 28. 

Of the Work Permit holders and Work Pass holders, three were tested as part of the screening of migrant workers residing at shop-houses located at Balestier Road, due to their proximity to another cluster in the same area. Two were tested before they were due to start work on plumbing/ electrical projects at schools, as a precautionary measure to prepare for the safe re-opening of schools.

MOH has also provided a list of public places that confirmed cases in the community had visited for more than 30 minutes.

A confirmed case visited Taman Jurong Shopping Centre's NTUC Fairprice (339 Yung Sheng Road) on May 20 from 7pm to 10pm, a confirmed case has also visited on May 22 from 830pm to 9pm.

As a precautionary measure, people who had been at these locations during the specified timings should monitor their health closely for 14 days from their date of visit and see a doctor if they develop symptoms, said MOH.

The number of new cases in the community has decreased, from an average of six cases per day in the week before to an average of five per day in the past week. 

More than 39,000 preschool staff have so far been tested as part of the proactive screening. Of these, 13 staff had tested positive using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. 11 were likely to be past infections, based on
epidemiological investigations and positive serological test results. 

One more serological test has come back positive today, the individual was unlikely to be infectious by the time of the recent screening. The final serological test (Case 33092) has come back negative, which is indicative of a recent infection. The case is a non-teaching staff and had been asymptomatic, her close contacts have been placed under quarantine.

The number of unlinked cases in the community has remained stable at an average of two per day in the past two weeks.

MOH continues to pick up more cases among Work Permit holders residing in dormitories, including in factory-converted dormitories, because of extensive testing in these premises, as part of their process to verify and test the status of all workers.

99 per cent of the new cases are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.

MOH added that they have closed the clusters at Keppel Shipyard (51 Pioneer Sector 1) and 2 Tuas Avenue 1 as there have been no more cases linked to them in the past 28 days.

However, there are two new clusters at dormitories located at 35 Kaki Bukit Place and 40 Kaki Bukit Industrial Terrace.

Of the 461 cases who are still in the hospital, most are stable and improving. Eight are in critical condition, while 13,745 cases who are clinically well but still test positive for Covid-19 are isolated and cared for at community facilities.

MOH also announced that 1,337 more cases of Covid-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 19,631 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.

This brings the total number of cases to 33,860, with 19,631 patients discharged and 23 deaths.

For the latest updates on the coronavirus, visit here.

melissagoh@asiaone.com