COVID-19: Singapore confirms 11 new cases, all imported

People cycle along a park connector network outside the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay in Singapore
People cycle along a park connector network outside the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay in Singapore. (PHOTO: NurPhoto via Getty Images)

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed 11 new cases of COVID-19 in Singapore on Thursday (18 February), taking the country's total case count to 59,832.

There are no new cases of locally-transmitted infection.

"There are 11 imported cases, who had already been placed on Stay-Home Notice upon arrival in Singapore," said the ministry.

Four arrived in Singapore before the requirement for mandatory on-arrival serology tests commenced, and six are not required to undergo these tests upon arrival, it added. The remaining case tested negative for her on-arrival serology test.

"Amongst the new cases today, 10 are asymptomatic, and were detected from our proactive screening and surveillance, while one was symptomatic," said the MOH.

One of the 11 imported cases is a Singaporean and another is a permanent resident who returned from Bangladesh and the UK.

One is a work pass holder who arrived from the United Arab Emirates.

Seven others are work permit holders who arrived from India, Indonesia, and the Philippines, of whom five are foreign domestic workers.

The remaining case is a 31-year-old student's pass holder – the sole symptomatic case reported on Thursday – who arrived from Italy for her studies in Singapore.

All of them were placed on the stay-home notice upon their arrival here and were tested while serving the notice.

The MOH noted that the number of new cases in the community has decreased from seven cases in the week before to three in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also decreased from six in the week before to one in the past week.

99% of total cases have recovered, 1 in ICU

With three more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Thursday, 59,679 cases – or 99.8 per cent of the total – have fully recovered from the infection.

Most of the 20 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, and one is in the intensive care unit.

A total of 104 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.

Amongst the 73 confirmed cases reported from 12 to 18 February, 34 cases have tested positive for their serology tests, 13 have tested negative, and 26 serology test results are pending.

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