1 community infection among 11 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore

SINGAPORE: One community case was among the 11 new COVID-19 infections reported in Singapore as of noon on Wednesday (Feb 17).

The remaining 10 infections were imported cases and had been placed on stay-home notice upon arrival, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in its preliminary daily update. MOH added most of the imported cases arrived in Singapore before the requirement for on-arrival serology testing began. 

No new infections were reported in foreign worker dormitories.

Details of the new cases will be released on Wednesday night, said MOH.

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About 3,200 appeals to waive the stay-home notice accommodation costs for foreign domestic workers were approved over the last 10 months.

Minister of State for Manpower Gan Siow Huang said in Parliament on Tuesday that this accounts for about 13 per cent of the 25,000 entry requests approved for foreign domestic workers to enter Singapore between April last year and January this year.

The appeals were “carefully reviewed”, taking into consideration factors such as the household income and financial circumstances of the applicants, she added.

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As part of efforts to stem the transmission of COVID-19, most new foreign domestic workers coming into Singapore have to serve a stay-home notice in dedicated facilities. They must also take a COVID-19 test before their stay-home notice is over.

Employment agencies told CNA last month that costs for stay-home notice facilities can come up to about S$1,500, while COVID-19 tests cost about S$200 each.

As of Wednesday, Singapore has reported a total of 59,821 COVID-19 cases, with 29 fatalities.

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