SINGAPORE — In facilitating Covid-19 swab tests for 250 people who had visited a camera shop at Excelsior Shopping Centre recently, the Ministry of Health (MOH) found that all the tests came back negative.

It had contacted 254 people who had visited camera shop SLR Revolution between Aug 15 and 18 after a store employee was infected with Covid-19.

This was a precautionary measure following the detection of three cases who had worked at or visited the shop “even though the risk of infection for visitors is assessed to be low”, MOH said on Friday (Sept 4).

“So far, a total of 250 people have been tested, and all the results have come back negative for Covid-19. MOH is facilitating testing for the remaining 4 individuals who have yet to be swabbed.”  

In its press release on Friday, MOH reported that there were 40 new cases of Covid-19, including three that are imported and 37 who are migrant workers staying in dormitories.

There were no cases in the community.

It also identified one new cluster of infections at the Blue Stars Dormitory — located at 3 Kian Teck Lane near Upper Jurong Road — which had previously been cleared of the coronavirus.

The three new imported cases comprise a Singaporean, a permanent resident and one short-term visit pass holder who had all arrived from India between Aug 23 and 28.

The short-term visit pass holder was allowed entry into Singapore because his spouse has been seeking medical treatment here, the ministry said.

All three imported cases had been placed on a 14-day stay-home notice and tested positive while serving their notices at dedicated facilities.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has gone up, from an average of two cases a day in the week before to an average of three in the past week.

The number of cases in the community with no known sources of infection has also increased from an average of one case a day in the week before to an average of two day in the past week.

Of the 37 new cases involving migrant workers in dormitories, five had been identified earlier as contacts of previous cases.

The remaining 32 were detected through surveillance testing, such as the Rostered Routine Testing and the testing of those with acute respiratory infection symptoms.

UPDATES ON REMAINING CASES

The total number of infections in Singapore now stands at 56,948.

Of these, 56,174 people have fully recovered and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities, including 146 on Friday.

There are still 51 patients in hospitals and most are in stable condition or improving. No one is in intensive care.

Another 696 patients are isolated and being cared for at community facilities. They have mild symptoms or are clinically well but still tested positive for Covid-19.

Twenty-seven people have died from complications due to Covid-19.