SINGAPORE: Eight new cases of COVID-19 were announced by the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Thursday (Feb 13), all linked to previous cases.
"Further epidemiological investigations and contact tracing have uncovered links between previously announced and new cases," MOH said in a press release.
AdvertisementAdvertisementThis brings the total number of cases in Singapore to 58.
Five of the new cases are linked to the Grace Assembly of God cluster, while two are linked to the cluster at Seletar Aerospace Heights construction site.
One of the new cases is a family member of a DBS employee, who tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday.
FIVE NEW CASES LINKED TO CHURCH
AdvertisementAdvertisementCases 51, 53, 54, 57 and 58 are all linked to the cluster associated with the Grace Assembly of God churches, where there have been two previously confirmed cases (48 and 49).
The five new cases have no recent travel history to China.
CASE 51
Case 51 is a 48-year-old Singaporean man who developed symptoms on Feb 4 and sought treatment at a GP clinic on Feb 5 and Feb 10.
He went to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) on Feb 11 and was tested positive for the coronavirus a day later.
Prior to hospital admission, he went to work at the Tanglin and Bukit Batok branches of the church. He stays at at Bishan St 13.
CASE 53
Case 53 is a 54-year-old Singaporean man who reported symptoms on Feb 10 and went to NCID two days later.
He was tested positive for the coronavirus on the same day.
Prior to being admitted to hospital, he mostly stayed at home at Hillview Avenue, MOH said. He works at the National University of Singapore but had not interacted with students and colleagues after the onset of symptoms.
CASES 54, 57 and 58
A 54-year-old Singaporean woman (Case 54), a 26-year-old Singaporean man (Case 57) and a 55-year-old Singaporean man (Case 58) are all linked to the cluster at the churches.
They were confirmed to have the coronavirus on Thursday morning and are warded in separate isolation rooms at NCID.
No more information was given about their movements prior to hospital admission.
[h=3]READ: WHO names novel coronavirus COVID-19[/h][h=3]READ: Coronavirus cases in Singapore - Trends, clusters and numbers to watch[/h][h=3]READ: F&B, retail businesses in CBD feel the pinch as people work from home amid COVID-19 concerns[/h]As of Thursday, at least 1,367 people have died across China and nearly 60,000 have been infected.
The figures came as its central province of Hubei reported nearly 15,000 new cases after authorities changed their threshold for diagnosing the virus.
Officials said lung imaging on suspected cases is now considered sufficient to diagnose, instead of standard nucleic tests.
[h=3]BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of COVID-19 and its developments[/h]Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram
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