Singapore reports 218 new COVID-19 cases

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said on Monday that proactive screening was leading to an increase in new cases from the community which group together foreign workers living outside the crowded dormitories.“Many of the community cases, we have seen in the past week were due to active case finding as we proactively conduct surveillance to test on our target groups,” the Channel News Asia quoted Gan as saying.

Singapore on Tuesday reported 218 new COVID-19 cases, all of them among foreign workers, taking the country's total count to 38,514. Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said on Monday that proactive screening was leading to an increase in new cases from the community which group together foreign workers living outside the crowded dormitories. The health ministry said the new cases included 212 foreign workers living in dormitories and six from the community, who were also foreigners holding work passes.

The new COVID-19 cases put Singapore's total at 38,514. "Many of the community cases, we have seen in the past week were due to active case finding as we proactively conduct surveillance to test on our target groups," the Channel News Asia quoted Gan as saying.

Testing has also been extended to individuals diagnosed with acute respiratory infection at first presentation to a doctor. Regional screening centres are also being set up across the island.

A new wearable device will help track COVID-19 transmission in Singapore. The first batch of TraceTogether tokens will be delivered in the second half of this month, according to the Channel News Asia report. The data will be used to map out the cases' activities and identify the full range of interactions they may have had, said the report.