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COVID-19: MOH reports 226 new cases including prison inmate on short-term visit pass

A security guard hands out disposable gloves to a man outside the supermarket section of the Mustafa Center on Saturday, May 16, 2020 in Singapore’s Little India district. Singapore has reported more than 27,000 COVID-19 cases, with 90% of the cases linked to foreign workers dormitories, but it has a low fatality rate of 21 deaths. (AP Photo/YK Chan)
A security guard hands out disposable gloves to a man outside the supermarket section of Mustafa Centre (PHOTO: AP)

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed 226 new COVID-19 cases as of Monday (3 August) noon, bringing Singapore’s total to 53,051.

Of the cases, one was in the community, nine were imported and the remaining 216 were foreign workers residing in dormitories.

The single community case (No. 53086), who is currently unlinked, is a prison inmate on short-term visit pass and had arrived in Singapore before the implementation of border measures. He had served an earlier sentence in prison prior to his current admission.

He had tested negative for COVID-19 for his entry and exit swabs on 2 July and 22 July respectively. He was subsequently tested again for COVID-19 even though he is asymptomatic, and his test came back positive.

All the identified close contacts have been isolated and placed on quarantine, and will be tested at the start and end of their quarantine period.

Among the nine imported cases, case 53077 is a Singapore permanent resident who returned to Singapore from India on 22 July.

Another five (cases 53073, 53074, 53076, 53084 and 53085) are work pass/work permit holders who are currently employed in Singapore, and had arrived from India, Japan and the Philippines on 22 July. The remaining three (cases 53017, 53075 and 53078) are dependant’s pass holders who arrived from India on 20 July and 22 July.

All of them had been placed on 14-day Stay-Home Notice (SHN) upon arrival in Singapore, and were serving their SHN at dedicated facilities.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has decreased, from an average of five cases per day in the week before, to an average of two per day in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also decreased, from an average of three cases per day in the week before, to an average of one per day in the past week.

The MOH also published a list of public places visited by COVID-19 cases in the community from 20 to 29 July 2020 while they were infectious.

With 253 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Monday, 47,179 cases – some 88.9 per cent of the tally – have fully recovered from the infection.

Most of the 115 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, while one is in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

A total of 5,730 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.

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