Singapore Reports 15 New COVID-19 Cases; Rolls Out Community Tests

Singapore: Singapore on Saturday reported 15 new COVID-19 cases, including five imported infections, taking the national tally to 57,558, the health ministry said, as the country rolled out weekend tests for community groups such as taxi drivers and food delivery personnel. Of the new cases, one was detected in the community who is a Singaporean. All imported cases were placed on stay-home notice (SHN) upon their arrival in Singapore.

The total number of cases in the country has reached 57,558. The sole imported case, reported on Friday, is a work permit holder who had returned from India on September 6 and has since been placed on SHN.

Meanwhile, about 5,700 workers who are required to undergo rostered routine testing have yet to do so, and will not be able to return to work until then, the Ministry of Manpower, Building and Construction Authority, Health Promotion Board and Economic Development Board said in a joint statement on Friday. With 32 cases discharged on Friday, the total number of people who have recovered from the disease has reached 57,071.

Thirty eight patients remain in hospital and 407 are recuperating in community facilities. Meanwhile, more than 100 hawkers and food delivery riders streamed into COVID-19 testing sites on Saturday for voluntary swab tests.

About 1,000 people are expected to be tested at these sites over the weekend, the National Environment Agency, Singapore Food Agency and Enterprise Singapore said on Friday. The weekend tests are part of a larger initiative that the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced on August 29, which involves offering one-time PCR tests to community groups such as taxi and private hire car drivers, food delivery personnel and key vendors providing service to foreign worker dormitories.

MOH said that the community groups were identified due to their high frequency of interaction with members of the public. The tests are being carried out to provide a better picture of the prevalence of the virus in the population at large.

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