Orchard Road malls, Geylang Serai market among new places visited by Covid-19 patients while infectious

Ngee Ann City, Far East Shopping Centre, Far East Plaza, Paragon and The Heeren were among the malls visited. PHOTOS: LIANHE ZAOBAO, KELVIN CHNG

SINGAPORE - Several malls in Orchard Road and Geylang Serai market were among the new places added on Saturday (Aug 29) to the Ministry of Health's (MOH) list of places visited by Covid-19 patients while they were infectious.

There were also 51 new coronavirus cases confirmed on Saturday, taking Singapore's total to 56,717.

Places visited by those infectious included Papilla Haircare and Best Denki in Ngee Ann City; Muji, Toys 'R' Us and iStudio in Paragon; Robinsons in The Heeren; and Far East Shopping Centre.

ABC Restaurant in Far East Plaza, Swensen's in Bugis Junction, Beauty in The Pot in Westgate, and Joo Chiat Complex were also added to the list.

Saturday's new cases included one community case, a 39-year-old Bangladeshi man who is a work pass holder, said MOH. This case is currently not linked to any previous cases and did not show any symptoms.

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

One of them is a three-year-old Singaporean girl who returned from India. She was confirmed to have Covid-19 on Friday.

The other two were a 29-year-old female student's pass holder and a 26-year-old male work pass holder, both Bangladeshis who returned from Bangladesh on Aug 17.

All three were confirmed to have Covid-19 on Friday.

The remaining 47 cases were dormitory residents, of which 37 were already quarantined or isolated before they were detected. Ten were detected through surveillance.

MOH said all the new cases announced on Saturday were asymptomatic, and were detected through proactive screening and surveillance.

Of the new cases, 98 per cent were imported or linked to known cases or clusters.

Auxiliary police check and scan the IC's of visitors at the Geylang Serai Market on Aug 7, 2020. ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

The number of cases in the community has remained stable at an average of two cases per day in the last two weeks. Over the same period, the number of unlinked cases has also remained stable, at an average of one per day.

MOH also said another 110 cases were discharged on Saturday, which brings the total number of those who have fully recovered to 55,432.

A total of 70 confirmed cases remain in hospital while 1,173 are recuperating in community facilities, with none in intensive care.

Singapore has had 27 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while 15 who tested positive have died of other causes.

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