Almost all 48 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore asymptomatic; 2 more dorm clusters

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed 48 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore as of Monday (14 September), bringing the country’s total to 57,454.

The MOH also announced two additional clusters linked to foreign worker dormitories: Jurong Penjuru Dormitory 1 and 2 at 58 and 36 Penjuru Place, respectively.

All but one of the 48 new cases are asymptomatic and were proactively detected, the ministry added.

Of them, none are classified as cases in the community. Five are imported cases who had been placed on a stay-home notice upon their arrival here and were tested while serving the notice at dedicated facilities.

The remaining 43 cases are foreign workers residing in dorms, of which 29 had been identified earlier as contacts of previous cases, and had already been quarantined.

One of them is linked to a new cluster of 10 cases at Jurong Penjuru Dormitory 1, while another is linked to a new cluster at Jurong Penjuru Dormitory 2.

Overall, four per cent of the new cases have no established links.

Among the five imported cases, one is a permanent resident who returned to Singapore from India on 30 August. Another two are work pass or permit holders currently employed here who arrived from India on 2 September.

Another case is a short-term visit pass holder, whose parent is a Singaporean, who had arrived from India on 5 September. The remaining case, who is also a short-term visit pass holder, is a technician who arrived from the US on 1 September on a work project.

The MOH noted that the number of new cases in the community has decreased, from an average of two cases per day in the week before to an average of one per day in the past week.

Similarly, the number of unlinked cases in the community has also decreased, from an average of two cases per day in the week before, to an average of one per day in the past week.

Separately, two fast-food restaurants – including a newly-opened Shake Shack outlet – a gym, and a shopping centre were added by the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Monday (10 September) to a list of public venues visited by community cases while infectious.

14 cases in dorms detected via surveillance testing

Among the 43 cases residing in dorms, 29 had been identified earlier as contacts of previous cases and were tested during quarantine.

The remaining 14 cases were detected through surveillance testing, such as the bi-weekly rostered routine testing of workers living in dorms, said the MOH.

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

“The serological test results for 31 cases have come back positive so far, which indicate likely past infection,” said the MOH.

Of Singapore’s COVID-19 tally, 54,214 – or 94.4 per cent – are foreign workers living in dorms.

Some 99% of total cases have recovered

With 38 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Monday, 56,802 cases – or 98.9 per cent of the total – have fully recovered from the infection.

Most of the 53 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, while none is in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

A total of 572 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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