285 More Cases Discharged, 157 New Cases of COVID-19 Infection Confirmed

1. As of 7 July 2020, 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified an additional 157 cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore. The breakdown is as follows:

a) Imported cases: 3 (1 Work Pass holder, 2 Dependant’s Pass holders)

Amongst the 3 imported cases, 2 (Cases 45123 and 45147) are Indian nationals who are Dependant’s Pass holders, and have returned to Singapore from India on 23 June. The remaining case (Case 45024) is a Filipino who returned to Singapore from the Philippines on 19 June. She is a Work Pass holder who is currently employed in Singapore. All of them had been placed on 14-day Stay-Home Notice (SHN) upon arrival in Singapore, and had been tested while serving their SHN.

b) Cases in the community: 20 (12 Singaporeans/ Permanent Residents, 3 Work Pass holders, 5 Work Permit holders)

Of the 20 cases in the community, 6 were picked up as a result of our proactive surveillance and screening, and 11 had already been placed on quarantine earlier. 11 of the cases are asymptomatic, and were all detected through our proactive testing.

12 of the community cases today are linked to previous cases or clusters. Of these, 11 had been identified as contacts of previously confirmed cases, and had been tested during their quarantine to determine their status. The remaining case (Case 45087) was swabbed as part of our proactive screening of workers in essential services, even though he is asymptomatic.

8 of the community cases are currently unlinked. Of these, 5 cases (Cases 45085, 45089, 45090, 45091 and 45092) were tested as they work in essential services, even though they are all asymptomatic. The remaining cases (Cases 45027, 45149 and 45164) were swabbed under our enhanced community testing to test all individuals aged 13 and above who are diagnosed with acute respiratory infection at first presentation to a doctor. This allows us to detect infected individuals early and to quickly contain further spread.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased, from an average of 8 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 14 per day in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased, from an average of 4 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 6 per day in the past week. We will continue to closely monitor these numbers, as well as the cases detected through our surveillance programme.

c) Cases residing in dormitories: 134

We continue to pick up cases amongst Work Permit holders residing in dormitories, including in factory-converted dormitories, because of extensive testing in these premises, as part of our process to verify and test the status of all workers.

2. Details of these trends can be found in MOH’s daily situation Report (www.moh.gov.sg/covid-19/situation-report). Please refer to Annex A for the summary of the confirmed cases.

3. Of the new cases, 94% are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.

Links between previous cases found

4. In the past week (30 June to 6 July), MOH has uncovered links for 6 previously unlinked cases.

5. Further epidemiological investigations and contact tracing have uncovered links between previously announced and new cases. Please refer to Annex B and Annex C for details.

Update on condition of confirmed cases

6. 285 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 41,002 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.

7. There are currently 219 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and 1 is in critical condition in the intensive care unit. 3,893 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. 26 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH
7 JULY 2020