340 More Cases Discharged, 169 New Cases of COVID-19 Infection Confirmed

     As of 3 July 2020, 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified an additional 169 cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore. The breakdown is as follows: 

a) Imported cases: 3 (3 Singaporeans/Permanent Residents)

All 3 imported cases (Cases 44350, 44351 and 44352) returned to Singapore from India on 21 June 2020. They had been  placed on Stay-Home Notice upon arrival in Singapore, and were conveyed in dedicated transport to SHN facilities to commence their 14-day isolation. They are asymptomatic, and had been tested while serving their SHN. 

b) Cases in the community: 11 (3 Singaporeans/Permanent Residents, 3 Work Pass holders, 5 Work Permit holders)

Of the 11 cases in the community, 5 had been picked up as a result of our proactive surveillance and screening, and 5 had already been placed on quarantine earlier. 

9 of the community cases today are linked to previous cases or clusters. Amongst them, 6 (Cases 44368, 44405, 44440, 44441, 44443 and 44444) had been identified as contacts of previously confirmed cases, and had already been quarantined earlier. They were tested during quarantine to verify their status. The remaining 3 cases (Cases 44404, 44407 and 44511) are asymptomatic, and were detected as part of our proactive screening of individuals working at dormitories (Case 44404) or in essential services (Cases 44407 and 44511). 

2 of the community cases are currently unlinked. Of these, 1 (Cases 44406) was proactively swabbed as he works in essential services, even though he is asymptomatic. Epidemiological investigations are ongoing for the remaining case (Case 44366), who had been tested under our enhanced community testing after being diagnosed with acute respiratory infection.

Besides the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, we also conducted serological tests to determine if some of these cases are current or past infections. ^[1] The serological test results for 4 cases (Cases 44368, 44404, 44444 and 44511) have come back positive, which indicate likely past infections. The test results for the remaining cases are pending. 

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased, from an average of 5 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 9 per day in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased, from an average of 2 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 4 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: 155

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, 98% are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing. 

4.      We announced yesterday that MOH has placed 58 households residing at Block 111 Tampines Street 11 under active phone surveillance and is facilitating COVID-19 testing for them and their visitors. This is a precautionary measure after MOH had detected 9 confirmed cases from 2 households residing at the block. As these households and visitors are not close contacts of the confirmed cases, they are assessed to have a low risk of being infected. Of the 85 tests that have been completed so far, all the results have come back negative for COVID-19. 

Links between previous cases found

5.    In the past week (26 June to 2 July), MOH has uncovered links for 12 previously unlinked cases. 

6.     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

7.      340 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 39,769 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities. 

8.     There are currently 223 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. 4,461 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
3 JULY 2020

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[1] Cases whose serological tests are positive are likely to have a past infection, and could be shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA picked by the PCR test, which were no longer transmissible and infective to others.