All 22 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore asymptomatic; lowest daily count in some 6 months

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed 22 new COVID-19 cases as of Monday (7 September) – the lowest reported daily tally in almost six months – bringing the country’s total to 57,044.

It is the lowest reported daily tally since 16 March, when 17 cases were reported.

All 22 cases are asymptomatic and were proactively detected, said the MOH. Of them, one is classified as a case in the community, while three cases are imported.

The remaining 18 are foreign workers living in dormitories, of which half of them had been identified earlier as contacts of previous cases, and had already been quarantined.

Overall, 14 per cent of the new cases have no established links, including Monday’s sole community case.

The man was detected as a result of the rostered routine testing of workers in the construction, marine, and process sectors who are living outside the dorms.

Amongst the three imported cases, one is a permanent resident who returned to Singapore from India on 26 August. The other cases are a work permit holder currently employed here who arrived from the Philippines on 26 August, and a dependant’s pass holder who arrived from India on 26 August.

All three imported cases had been placed on 14-day stay-home notice upon their arrival here and had been tested while serving their notice at dedicated facilities, said the MOH.

9 cases in dorms detected via surveillance testing

Amongst the 18 cases residing in dormitories, nine had been identified earlier as contacts of previous cases and were tested during quarantine, the ministry added. The remaining half was detected through surveillance testing.

Besides the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, or swab test, serological tests were also conducted to determine if some of these cases are current or past infections, it said.

“The serological test results for six cases have come back positive so far, which indicate likely past infections,” added the MOH.

Foreign workers living in dorms make up 94.4 per cent – or 53,869 cases – of Singapore’s total COVID-19 tally.

A total of 13,000 workers who are required to undergo the rostered routine testing regime have yet to do so as of Sunday, said the Ministry of Manpower, Economic Development Board, Building and Construction Authority, and Health Promotion Board in a separate press release on Monday.

This means that they cannot return to work and their AccessCode status will remain red.

They will be allowed to return to work once they have undergone the routine testing regime, and their AccessCode will be restored to green.

The authorities also said that since August, they have been engaging the employers and reminding them to schedule their workers for the rostered training before its 5 September deadline.

“Agencies have also ensured that there were sufficient rostered routine testing slots for booking when the deadline was announced and guided and assisted employers facing difficulties scheduling workers to do so,” they added.

Workers staying in dorms, in the construction, marine, and process sectors as well as personnel who go into the worksites are required to undergo the rostered routine testing every 14 days.

Some 99% of total recovered

With 75 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Monday, 56,408 cases – or 98.9% of the total – have fully recovered from the infection.

Most of the 51 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, while none is in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

A total of 558 patients with mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive are isolated and cared for at community facilities.

Apart from 27 patients who have died from COVID-19 complications, 15 others who tested positive for the virus were determined to have died from unrelated causes, including three whose deaths were attributed to a heart attack and another four, whose deaths were attributed to coronary heart disease.

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