256 MORE CASES DISCHARGED, 202 NEW CASES OF COVID-19 INFECTION CONFIRMED

       As of 18 July 2020, 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified an additional 202 cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore. The breakdown of the cases is as follows:

a) Imported cases: 8 (2 Singaporeans/Permanent Residents, 4 Work Pass holders, 1 Dependant’s Pass holder, 1 Special Pass holder)

Amongst the 8 imported cases, 2 (Cases 47649 and 47721) are Singaporeans/ Permanent Residents who returned to Singapore from India on 6 July and from Pakistan on 4 July. 4 cases (Cases 47697, 47698, 47699 and 47715) are Work Pass holders who are currently employed in Singapore. Another case (Case 47685) is a Dependant’s Pass holder. They arrived in Singapore from India between 6 July and 15 July. All 7 of them had been placed on 14-day Stay-Home Notice (SHN) upon arrival in Singapore, and had been tested while serving their SHN.

The remaining case (Case 47613) had arrived in Singapore from the Philippines on 16 July, and was conveyed directly to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases as he was symptomatic. He is a sailor currently holding a Special Pass who will join a vessel that called in our Port. 

b) Cases in the community: 7 (5 Singaporeans/Permanent Residents, 1 Work Permit holder, 1 Student’s Pass holder)

Of the 7 cases in the community, 3 were picked up as a result of our proactive surveillance and screening, and 1 had already been placed on quarantine earlier. 4 of the cases are asymptomatic, and were detected through our proactive testing. 

3 of the community cases today are linked to previous cases or clusters. Of these, 1 (Case 47686) had been identified as a contact of previously confirmed cases, and had been placed on quarantine earlier. He was tested during quarantine to determine his status, even though he is asymptomatic. Another case (Case 47655) is also asymptomatic, and was identified from our periodic testing of individuals working in essential services. The remaining case (Case 47632) was tested for COVID-19 under our enhanced community testing. He is a family contact of 2 other cases announced yesterday, and all 3 were confirmed to have COVID-19 on the same day.

4 of the community cases are currently unlinked. Of these, 2 cases (Cases 47541 and 47723) had been detected as a result of our screening of workers in essential services who are living outside the dormitories. The remaining 2 cases (Cases 47544 and 47654) 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. 

Epidemiological investigations of the unlinked cases are in progress. In the meantime, all the identified close contacts of the cases 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 their household contacts to determine if these cases could have been infected by them. 

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has decreased, from an average of 18 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 decreased, from an average of 9 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 5 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: 187

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, 97% are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing. 

4.     The Inter-Agency Task Force has been systematically and progressively clearing dormitories through aggressive testing of migrant workers residing in dormitories. Changi Lodge II (80 Tanah Merah Coast Road) and Sungei Tengah Lodge (500 Old Choa Chu Kang Road) have been cleared, and now house only recovered individuals and those who have recently tested negative for COVID-19 infection. As such, the clusters have now been closed.

Links between previous cases found

5.     In the past week (11 July to 17 July), MOH has uncovered links for 1 previously unlinked case in the community. 

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.     256 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 43,833 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities. 

8.     There are currently 169 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and none is in the intensive care unit. 3,626 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. 27 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection. 

MINISTRY OF HEALTH
18 JULY 2020