278 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore, including 4 in the community and 4 imported

A healthcare worker stores a swab to test for Covid-19 at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital on April 28, 2020. PHOTO: ST FILE

SINGAPORE - There were 278 new coronavirus cases confirmed as of Thursday noon (July 30), taking Singapore's total to 51,809.

They included four community cases, comprising a Singaporean and three work pass holders, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

There were also four imported cases who had been placed on stay-home notices upon arrival in Singapore.

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

More details will be announced on Thursday night.

On Wednesday, a 10-year-old student's pass holder from India was among four imported Covid-19 cases announced by MOH. He had arrived in Singapore on July 14.

The other three imported cases were a 36-year-old Singaporean woman who had arrived from India on July 17, a 26-year-old Filipino work pass holder who had arrived from the Philippines on July 15 and an 18-year-old male Indonesian student's pass holder who had arrived from Indonesia on July 17.

All four imported patients were placed on 14-day stay-home notices upon arrival in Singapore, and were serving their notices at dedicated facilities. They were tested while serving their notices and all four were confirmed to have Covid-19 on Tuesday.

The three community cases reported on Wednesday comprised two Singaporeans and a work pass holder. All three were linked to previous cases or clusters, and were quarantined earlier. They were tested during quarantine to determine their status, even though they were asymptomatic.

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Migrant workers living in dormitories made up the remaining 327 of 334 new coronavirus patients announced on Wednesday.

MOH said that it continues to pick up cases among work permit holders residing in dormitories, including in factory-converted dormitories, because of extensive testing in these premises, as part of the ministry's process to verify and test the status of all workers.

The average number of new daily cases in the community in a week has decreased from nine cases two weeks ago to four in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community in a week has decreased from a daily average of five cases to two over the same period.

With 205 cases discharged on Wednesday, 46,083 patients have fully recovered from the disease.

A total of 184 patients remain in hospital, while 5,222 are recuperating in community facilities. None are in intensive care.

Singapore has had 27 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 17.1 million people. More than 669,000 people have died.

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