322 New Covid-19 Cases Reported Today (13 Jul); 11 Cases In The Community

Today, as of 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) preliminarily reported 322 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore.

There are 11 cases in the community: 2 Singaporeans/PRs and 9 work pass holders.

There are 5 imported cases and foreign workers residing in dormitories make up a vast majority of the cases.

The five imported cases were placed on SHN upon arrival in Singapore.

This brings the total number of Covid-19 cases in Singapore to 46,283.

Why the spike, you ask?

MOH explained that there were fewer tests carried out in the laboratories on 10 and 11 Jul 2020, and the backlog of samples are being cleared from 12 Jul 2020.

Previous Community Case

On 12 Jul 2020, the single Singapore PR case is a 67-year-old non-teaching staff working in Shatec.

He was detected as part of MOH’s expanded testing regime and showed symptoms on 6 July 2020.

He was then tested positive on 11 Jul 2020.

MOH added that he has been back to work in between 6 and 11 Jul 2020.

MOH also added Rivervale Mall and Jurong Point as new places on the list of places where Covid-19 patients have been to.

They are:

• Rivervale Mall (11 Rivervale Crescent) / 8 July, 12.45pm to 1.25pm
• and Jurong Point’s Lenskart outlet (1 Jurong West Central 2) / 7 July, 3pm to 5pm

You can view their updated location list here.

Again, there’s no need to avoid these places but if you happen to be there during the same time period, monitor yourself carefully for the next 14 days.

See a doctor if you find yourself even sniffling.

The places identified will be sanitised and thoroughly cleaned with the help of the NEA and close contacts would’ve been contacted by MOH.

First Case Of Possible School COVID-19 Transmission Detected In Jurong West Sec; The Whole Cohort to be on HBL for a Week

A 13-year-old girl at Jurong West Secondary School has tested positive for Covid-19.

That’s normal except that she is reportedly linked to a previous case from the same school – a 13-year-old boy who tested positive on 6 July.

MOE’s director of schools Liew Wei has since addressed the issue, stating that the girl had been placed on Home Quarantine Order (HQO) ever since the boy’s result was announced.

“For the latest case, she was last in school on Jul 3, was well, and remains without symptoms,” said MOE’s director of schools Liew Wei Li.

“Being a close contact of a previous case, she had been placed on Home Quarantine Order (HQO) by MOH since Jul 6, 2020. As part of MOH’s expanded testing regime, she was swabbed and tested positive.”

Meanwhile, around 70 students and staff members (who were verified to be close contacts of the earlier case) have tested negative for the virus. Though as a result of this latest case, another six students and four employees will be given home quarantine orders.

Precaution

According to Ms Liew, disinfection and cleaning of premises have been conducted in the school since last weekend. And in light of the most recent case, the school has undergone further disinfection.

“The school has been cleaned and disinfected several times since the last weekend. Further disinfection and cleaning of premises is also taking place today,” said Ms Liew.

As a form of precaution, the home-based learning period for all Secondary 1 students has also been extended by a week.

“The school had placed all Secondary 1 students on home-based learning (HBL) on Jul 8 and 9 pending outcome of MOH investigations,” said Ms Liew.

“As an added precaution, the HBL period for Secondary 1 students will be extended till next week (Jul 13 to 18) before the start of the one-week mid-term break,” she added.

“This allows the Secondary 1 classes to continue uninterrupted with lessons from their own teachers despite being on HQO. All other levels will resume classes in school on Monday as per normal.”

Incidentally, the Secondary 1 female student was one of 16 new community Covid-19 cases announced on Friday (10 July).

The Secondary 1 male student, who was the earlier case, had been a contact of Case 443266, a 29-year-old Indonesian woman who tested positive after being diagnosed with an acute respiratory infection.