347 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore, including 5 in community

SINGAPORE - There are 347 new coronavirus cases confirmed as of Saturday noon (June 13), taking Singapore's total to 40,197.

These include five community cases, comprising two Singaporeans or permanent residents and three work pass holders, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

Migrant workers living in dormitories make up the vast majority of the other cases on Saturday, said MOH. More details will be announced on Saturday night.

Singapore had recorded 463 new Covid-19 cases, including 18 community cases, on Friday.

Six Singaporean men working in dormitories, who were picked up by MOH's proactive screening, were among the 18 community cases.

The oldest is a 72-year-old who works in the Woodlands Lodge 1 dormitory. He showed symptoms on June 7.

A 22-year-old Singaporean woman, unlinked to previous cases, was also confirmed. She showed symptoms on June 5.

The only permanent resident among the community cases is a 40-year-old man who is a close contact of a previous case and was already in quarantine.

Two work pass and eight work permit holders were among the community cases recorded on Friday.

Three were detected due to active screening of those working in dormitories, two were swabbed as part of the ministry's screening of those in essential services, while five other cases were close contacts of previously confirmed cases and were already quarantined in government facilities.

Tests on four of the 18 community cases found that they were likely infected some time ago as they are no longer infectious. The results for the others tested are pending.

The community cases reported on Friday is the highest number of community cases since April 24, when there were 25 recorded, an increase which the MOH partly attributes to its active screening of targeted groups.

The remaining 445 of the 463 people confirmed with the coronavirus on Friday were migrant workers staying in dormitories.

New daily community cases have increased since Singapore began its phased opening last week, from an average of six two weeks ago to nine in the last seven days.

The average number of unlinked patients per day has also increased from one to four over the same period.

Twenty-five people have died from complications due to the coronavirus, while 10 others have died of other causes while testing positive for Covid-19.

Globally, the virus outbreak, which began in December last year, has infected more than 7.73 million people. More than 428,000 people have died.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.

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