Singapore reports 136 new COVID-19 cases

Singapore has recorded 136 new COVID-19 cases, mostly foreign workers living in dormitories, taking the total number of coronavirus infections in the country to 44,800, according to the health ministry.

Among the new COVID-19 infections, 18 are from the community. Twelve of the 18 cases from community are foreigners on work passes but living outside the dorms.

The other six cases are Singapore citizens or permanent residents (foreigners), the Ministry of Health (MOH) said.

Singapore's total number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 44,800 with 136 new cases reported in the last 24 hours. Out of the new cases, 118 infections were detected in foreign workers living in dormitories, it said.

The ministry reported seven imported cases, all of whom have been placed on Stay-Home-Notice upon arrival in Singapore.

In its update late on Saturday, the MOH said an imported coronavirus case from India had been reported.

The patient was placed on Stay-Home Notice (SHN) upon arrival in Singapore, and had been taken to an SHN facility to commence his 14-day isolation.

The latest imported case is an 11-year-old permanent resident who had returned from India on June 21 and tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, according to The Straits Times.

The boy is a family member of another imported case, a 35-year-old woman permanent resident, which was reported on Friday.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased from an average of 6 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 9 per day in the past week, the ministry said.

“We will continue to closely monitor these numbers, as well as the cases detected through our surveillance programme,” it said.

As of Saturday, Singapore had 204 confirmed cases in hospitals. Of these, most are stable or improving, and 2 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit, while 4,317 are isolated and cared for at community facilities as they have mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19.

The ministry said a total of 348 more COVID-19 patients had been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities.

In all, 40,117 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.