495 More Cases Discharged, 305 New Cases of COVID-19 Infection Confirmed

1.     As of 18 May 2020, 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified an additional 305 cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore. The lower number of cases today is partly due to fewer tests being processed as one testing laboratory is reviewing its processes following an earlier apparatus calibration issue, and will need time to ramp up its testing capacity. The breakdown is as follows:

1. Imported cases: 0

   There are no imported cases today.

2. Cases in the community: 2 (2 Singaporeans/Permanent Residents)

   The number of new cases in the community has decreased, from an average of 7 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 3 per day in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has remained stable at an average of 2 per day in the past two weeks. We will continue to closely monitor these numbers, as well as the cases detected through our surveillance programme.

3. Work Permit holders (residing outside dormitories): 0

   The number of new cases amongst Work Permit holders residing outside dormitories has decreased, from an average of 4 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 1 per day in the past week.

4. Work Permit holders (residing in dormitories): 303

We continue to pick up many more 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, 99% are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.

4.     MOH has been monitoring existing clusters for any further transmission. As there have been no more cases linked to ABC Hostel (3 Jalan Kubor) for the past two incubation periods (i.e. 28 days), the cluster has now been closed.

Links between previous cases found

5.     In the past week (11 May to 17 May), MOH has uncovered links for 13 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.     495 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 9,835 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.

8.     There are currently 1,036 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and 12 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit. 17,450 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. 22 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection.