COVID-19: Singapore confirms 481 new cases, including 1-year-old boy

SINGAPORE — As of noon on Sunday (26 July), there have been 481 new COVID-19 infection cases detected in Singapore, taking the country’s total to 50,369.

Of the new cases, five are work pass holders, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in a news release.

Among the community cases, three were picked up as a result of proactive surveillance and screening, and two had already been placed on quarantine earlier, the MOH said. All five cases are asymptomatic.

Two of community cases are linked to previous cases or clusters. Cases 50443 and 50444 had been identified as contacts of previously confirmed cases, and had been placed on quarantine earlier. They were tested during quarantine to determine their status.

Currently, three of the community cases are unlinked. Cases 50190, 50191 and 50192 – all male Bangladesh nationals – were detected “as a result of our periodic screening of workers in essential services who are living outside the dormitories, even though they are asymptomatic”, the ministry said. Epidemiological investigations of the unlinked cases are in progress.

“Overall, the number of new cases in the community has decreased, from an average of 10 cases per day in the week before, to an average of seven per day in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also decreased, from an average of five cases per day in the week before, to an average of four per day in the past week,” the MOH said.

There are also four imported cases who have been placed on Stay-Home Notices since their arrival in Singapore.

Among the four imported cases, Case 50010 – a 30-year-old Indonesian woman who is a Singapore permanent resident – and Case 50028 – a one-year-old Singaporean boy – returned to Singapore from Indonesia on 24 July. The remaining two cases are female work permit holders who arrived from the Philippines on 14 July. All 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 health ministry also announced two new clusters, both dormitories – at 52 Kaki Bukit Industrial Terrace and 19 Kian Teck Avenue.

Authorities here expect to clear all dorms by 7 August, with the exception of 17 standalone blocks in eight purpose-built dorms, which serve as quarantine facilities as well as 28,000 workers still serving out their isolation period.

Over 45,500 recovered, zero in ICU

With 169 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Sunday, 45,521 cases have fully recovered from the infection.

Most of the 173 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, while none are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

A total of 4,648 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.

“Only cases where the attending doctor or pathologist attributes the primary or underlying cause of death as due to COVID-19 infection will be added to the COVID-19 death count,” said the MOH in previous press releases, adding that the method of assessment is consistent with international practices for classifying deaths.

As of 20 July, the ministry has conducted 1,170,049 swab tests, of which 571,496 were done on unique individuals. This translates to around 205,300 swabs conducted per 1 million total population, and about 100,300 unique individuals swabbed per 1 million total population.

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