COVID-19: Singapore reports 24 new cases, with one local unlinked infection
SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed the detection of 24 new cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore as of noon on Sunday (7 February), taking the country’s total case count to 59,699.
There is one new case of locally transmitted COVID-19 infection and no new cases linked to the migrant worker dormitories, said the ministry in a news release.
The remaining 23 cases are all imported and were placed on Stay-Home Notice. (SHN) upon their arrival in Singapore.
Community case currently unlinked
The sole community case, Case 60023, is a 43-year-old Singaporean man who is employed by BGC Group and deployed to work at Changi Airport Terminal 1 and Terminal 3. His job entails issuing electronic monitoring devices to individuals who will be serving SHN outside of dedicated facilities, and helping them to wear the devices. While on duty, he wears a surgical mask, face shield and gloves.
He is asymptomatic, and was detected when he was tested on 4 February as part of Rostered Routine Testing (RRT). His result came back positive for COVID-19 infection the next day, and he was conveyed in an ambulance to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases. (NCID). His earlier tests from RRT – the last being on 22 January – were negative for COVID-19 infection.
His serology test result has come back negative, indicating that this is likely a current infection. Epidemiological investigations are ongoing.
In the meantime, the ministry said, all the identified close contacts of the case, including his family members and co-workers, have been isolated and placed on quarantine, and will be tested at the start and end of their quarantine period. Serological tests will also be conducted.
Overall, the MOH said, the number of new cases in the community has decreased from three cases in the week before to two cases in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has remained stable at two cases per week in the past two weeks.
23 imported cases
Among the 23 imported cases:
Cases 60037 and 60041 are Singaporeans and Case 60031 is a Singapore Permanent Resident who returned from Canada, Ethiopia, India and the UAE.
Cases 60024, 60035, 60045, 60047, 60048 and 60049 are dependant’s pass holders who arrived from India, Spain, the UAE and US.
Cases 60038, 60040, 60042, 60044 and 60046 are work pass holders who arrived from Spain and the UAE.
Eight are work permit holders who arrived from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines, of whom three (Cases 60027, 60030 and 60036) are foreign domestic workers.
Case 60032 is a short-term visit pass holder who arrived from India for studies in Singapore.
In its nightly update on Saturday, MOH said that a Bangladesh national living at one of the migrant worker dormitories was likely to be Singapore’s first case of COVID-19 reinfection. The man was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 12 April last year (Case 2513). He subsequently recovered, and consistently tested negative from June 2020 onwards.
However, on 25 January 2021, his test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection, and he was isolated. Numerous repeat tests conducted subsequently were also positive for the virus.
He is currently warded at the NCID. All his identified close contacts have been isolated and placed on quarantine, and have so far all tested negative for the coronavirus.
99% of total cases have recovered, 1 in ICU
With 28 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Sunday, 59,433 cases – or 99.5 per cent of the total – have fully recovered from the infection.
Most of the 36 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, and one in the intensive care unit.
A total of 201 patients – with mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive – are isolated and cared for at community facilities.
Apart from 29 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.
WATCH: Free COVID vaccine in Singapore
Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore
More Singapore stories:
COVID-19: Singapore confirms 26 new cases, all imported
SportSG considering stricter penalties for those who on-sell booking slots of its facilities
Permanent resident has status revoked after conviction for COVID-19 offences
