Six new imported cases; MOH says cruise passenger tested negative
Six new coronavirus cases were confirmed yesterday, taking Singapore's total to 58,291.
All six cases were imported and had been placed on stay-home notice on arrival in Singapore, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).
The new cases comprise a Singaporean, two permanent residents and three work permit holders who are currently employed here.
One of the work permit holders, a 37-year-old who arrived from Indonesia, experienced the onset of symptoms on Nov 25 and was confirmed positive on Tuesday. She was a contact of a previous case.
The remaining five cases were asymptomatic and were detected through proactive screening and surveillance, the ministry said.
The Singaporean is a 64-year-old man who returned from Indonesia.
The two permanent residents are a 39-year-old man and an eight-year-old girl who returned from India. The girl is linked to a previous case. The other two work permit holders had arrived from Indonesia.
MOH also gave an update on the 83-year-old man who had tested positive while aboard the Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas cruise ship. Subsequent tests of his samples were negative for Covid-19, said MOH last night.
Earlier yesterday, MOH announced that the man had tested positive for Covid-19 in the morning and was immediately isolated.
He had reported to the ship's medical centre with diarrhoea and was tested for the infection using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test equipment on board the ship.
His original PCR sample was later retested at the National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) and came back negative for Covid-19 infection, MOH said. A second fresh sample was tested and also found to be negative.
NPHL will conduct another test today to confirm his Covid-19 status, added MOH.
All the identified close contacts of the man have been isolated as a precautionary measure, and all passengers underwent mandatorytesting before they were allowed to leave the Marina Bay Cruise Centre.
As a precaution, passengers are also required to monitor their health for 14 days from the date of disembarkation and undergo a swab test at the end of the monitoring period, MOH said. - THE STRAITS TIMES
By the numbers
6 New cases
0 New cases in community
6 Imported cases
58,291 Total cases
29 Deaths
6 Discharged yesterday
20 In hospital
58,167 Total recovered
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