As of 15 January 2021, 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified that there is 1 new case of locally transmitted COVID-19 infection. The case is in the community, and there are no new cases in the dormitories. There are 29 imported cases, who had already been placed on Stay-Home Notice (SHN) or isolated upon arrival in Singapore. Amongst the new cases today, 27 are asymptomatic, and were detected from our proactive screening and surveillance, while 3 were symptomatic.
Summary of new cases
| | | | Breakdown by | | Breakdown by |
| | Number of cases | | Already in quarantine/ isolation before detection | Detected from surveillance | | Symptomatic | Asymptomatic |
| Cases in the community | 1 | | 0 | 1 | | 0 | 1 |
| Cases residing in dormitories | 0 | | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 0 |
| Imported cases | 29 | | 26 | 3 | | 3 | 26 |
| Total | 30 | | | | | | |
2. Overall, the number of new cases in the community has decreased from 8 cases in the week before to 2 cases in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also decreased from 5 cases in the week before to 2 cases in the past week. We will continue to closely monitor these numbers, as well as the cases detected through our surveillance programme.
Case Details
a) Cases in the community: 1
There is 1 case in the community today who is currently unlinked. Case 59321 is a 57 year-old female Singaporean who is a homemaker.
She is asymptomatic, and was detected when she took a COVID-19 pre-departure test on 13 January in preparation for a trip to Vietnam. Her result came back positive for COVID-19 infection the next day and she was conveyed to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases in an ambulance.
Her polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test yielded a high Ct value, which is indicative of a low viral load. Her serological test result has also come back positive, which indicates a likely past infection.
Epidemiological investigations are ongoing. In the meantime, all the identified close contacts of the case, including her family members, have been isolated and placed on quarantine, and will be tested at the start and end of their quarantine period so that we can detect asymptomatic cases. We will also conduct serological tests for the close contacts to determine if the case could have been infected by them.
b) Cases residing in dormitories: 0
There are no cases residing in dormitories today.
c) Imported cases: 29
Amongst the 29 imported cases,
• 1 (Case 59325) is a Singaporean and 5 (Cases 59304, 59305, 59306, 59320 and 59322) are Singapore Permanent Residents who returned from the US, UK and India.
• 1 (Case 59297) is a Long-Term Visit Pass holder who arrived from India.
• 5 (Cases 59300, 59301, 59302, 59314 and 59319) are Work Pass holders who arrived from India, Pakistan and the UAE.
• 13 are Work Permit holders who arrived from Bangladesh, India and Myanmar, of whom 5 (Cases 59311, 59312, 59313, 59317 and 59318) are foreign domestic workers.
• 1 (Case 59323) is a sea crew holding a Special Pass who arrived from the UAE onboard a vessel on 11 January and had not disembarked. He was tested for COVID-19, and conveyed to the hospital when his result came back positive.
• 3 (Cases 59307, 59309 and 59326) are Short-Term Visit Pass holders. Cases 59307 and 59309 arrived from India and Myanmar respectively to study in Singapore. Case 59326 arrived India to visit her spouse who is a Singapore Permanent Resident.
They had all already been placed on SHN or isolated upon arrival in Singapore and were tested while serving SHN or during isolation.
Cases 59315, 59316 and 59324 are Work Permit holders who arrived from Bangladesh on 24 December 2020 and served SHN at dedicated facilities until 7 January 2021. Their swabs done on 4 January during SHN were negative for COVID-19, and subsequent tests on 8 January and 10 January were also negative. Their tests on 13 January came back positive for COVID-19 infection, although the Ct values were very high, which are indicative of low viral loads. Their serological test results have also come back positive. Given that these indicate likely past infection, we have classified these cases as imported. They are likely to be shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA, which are no longer transmissible and infective to others.
3. Please refer to the Annexes and MOH’s daily Situation Report (www.moh.gov.sg/covid-19/situation-report) for details.
Update on condition of confirmed cases
4. 14 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 58,771 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.
5. There are currently 51 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and none is in the intensive care unit. 208 are isolated and cared for at community facilities. These are those who have mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19. 29 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection.
MINISTRY OF HEALTH
15 JANUARY 2021