Repeat test of 6 infected students, staff for Covid-19 finds all negative, have recovered: MOH

SINGAPORE - The five students and one non-teaching staff member who were confirmed to have Covid-19 on Sunday (June 7) have all recovered, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Wednesday (June 10).

It said of the six patients: "All six cases had displayed mild symptoms, with low viral loads. A repeat test using new samples showed that all the cases were negative. All of them have since recovered and five have been discharged from hospital."

The sixth patient remains in hospital pending the resolution of administrative issues.

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All six patients had been picked up as a result of proactive testing of school staff and students above 12 years who are diagnosed with acute respiratory infection. They are from Anglican High School, CHIJ Katong Convent, CHIJ St. Theresa's Convent, Geylang Methodist Secondary School, Hwa Chong Institution and Ascensia International school.

The ministry gave the update along with its evening report on Wednesday's 451 new cases, seven of whom are members of the community.

Five of the seven community cases reported on Wednesday are asymptomatic.

Of those who are asymptomatic, four are work pass holders detected by the ministry's active screening measures.

Two work in essential services, one is a housemate of a previously confirmed case and had already been quarantined, while the last works as a security guard at Hai Leck Engineering, which has already been declared an active cluster.

The other three community cases are all Singaporeans, aged 38, 56 and 67.

The 67-year-old man is a household contact of a previously confirmed case and had already been quarantined. He had displayed symptoms on May 25.

The 56-year-old man works as a security guard at a dormitory at 31 Sungei Kadut Avenue, and was detected when he was swabbed as part of screening of workers at dorms.

The third Singaporean, a 38-year-old woman, is currently not linked to known cases. She displayed symptoms on June 5.

Migrant workers living in dorms make up the remaining 444 cases, taking Singapore's total to 38,965.

Meanwhile, the ministry announced three new dormitory clusters.

A dormitory at 9 Sungei Kadut Street 3 is now linked to seven cases; a dormitory at 113 Tuas View Walk 1 is now linked to 33 cases; a dormitory at 19A Tech Park Crescent now has 24 cases.

The number of community cases has also increased since Singapore began its phased reopening last week. The daily average for new community cases rose from four two weeks ago to nine in the past week. Unlinked cases have also increased from an average of two per day to four over the same period.

With 655 new cases discharged on Wednesday, 26,523 patients have fully recovered from the disease, making up 68 per cent of the Covid-19 patients here.

As of Wednesday, 223 remain in hospital, including three in the intensive care unit, while a total of 12,185 are in community facilities.

Singapore has seen 25 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while nine who tested positive have died of other causes.

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

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