22 new Covid-19 community cases in Singapore, including eight unlinked - The Star Online

SINGAPORE, May 22 (The Straits Times/ANN): There were 29 new Covid-19 cases, including 22 in the community, as at noon on Saturday (May 22), said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

Of the community cases, eight are currently unlinked.

The remaining 14 are linked to previous cases. Among them, 12 have already been quarantined.

There were also seven imported cases who had been placed on stay-home notice on arrival in Singapore, said the ministry.

Of these, three are returning Singaporeans or permanent residents.

There were no new cases in workers’ dormitories.

The new cases take Singapore’s total to 61,799.

Globally, the virus pandemic, which began in December 2019, has infected more than 166 million people. Over 3.45 million people have died.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Saturday (May 22) said new Covid-19 cases here have not shot up in the past week thanks to the stricter precautions that Singapore has taken.

The country tightened its safety measures from May 16, including banning dining in and restricting social gatherings. Mr Ong said that the number of new coronavirus infections has been hovering around about 20 to 30 a day since then.

Said Ong: “So you are not seeing the kind of sharp increase in cases that you will see if you don’t take any precautions, don’t do any testing, don’t do any contact tracing. In those circumstances, usually every week, you will see the cases double and double – very scary.”

The minister noted that the number of coronavirus cases here was stabilising.

“I hope we continue that way. We still have to watch for a few more days before we know which direction the cases are heading. But also continue to do our part, so that we can suppress it,” he said. – The Straits Times/ANN