Sri Lankan inmate was awaiting repatriation when he tested positive
The Sri Lankan prison inmate who was the sole community case on Monday had served a four-week jail sentence for overstaying in Singapore without a valid pass and was awaiting repatriation when he tested positive for Covid-19.
He was also admitted to Changi General Hospital during his jail term for dengue and went for a related medical review at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital after his sentence ended.
This is according to replies by the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) last night after queries from The Straits Times on the 26-year-old inmate.
They said he is currently well, and noted he had undergone at least three swab tests during his stay at Changi Prison Complex and had his temperature taken three times a day while he was in ICA's custody.
It is unclear where he was infected, but he has been classified by the Ministry of Health (MOH) as a local case.
Two other inmates who were admitted on July 30 with the Sri Lankan patient were isolated in the same cell with him during a 14-day segregation period for all newly admitted inmates.
They are being closely monitored and kept separate from the rest of the prison population.
The two tested negative for Covid-19 and will undergo another swab test at the end of their current isolation period.
The Sri Lankan man is the sixth case to be linked to prisons to date. Four inmates and one staff nurse had earlier been confirmed to have contracted the virus.
This latest case is unrelated to the five cases before, SPS and ICA said. The five earlier cases have recovered.
Meanwhile, a Hindu temple was added to a list of places visited by Covid-19 patients while they were still infectious.
The Holy Tree Sri Balasubramaniar Temple at 10 Yishun Industrial Park A was visited by at least one case last Friday from 7pm to 9pm.
There were 295 new cases confirmed yesterday, including two in the community and seven imported ones.
The number of unlinked cases in the community over a week has fallen from a daily average of two cases to one.
By the numbers
295 New cases
27 Deaths
2 New cases in community
275 Discharged yesterday
7 Imported cases
47439 Total recovered
53346 Total cases
125 Total in hospital
1 In intensive care unit
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