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COVID-19: Singapore confirms 117 new cases including 4 Singaporeans

A woman dines in an empty restaurant, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Singapore, August 12, 2020. REUTERS/Edgar Su
A woman dines in a restaurant in Singapore. (PHOTO: Reuters/Edgar Su)

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed another 117 COVID-19 cases in Singapore as of Friday (21 August), taking the country’s total to 56,216.

Of them, six are community cases, 13 are imported ones and 98 are work permit holders living in dormitories currently under quarantine.

Of the six cases in the community, four were picked up as a result of proactive surveillance and screening, and one had already been placed on quarantine earlier. Four of them are asymptomatic, and were detected through our proactive testing.

There is one case in the community today (case 56244) who had been identified as a contact of a previously confirmed case. The 14-year-old Singaporean boy had been placed on quarantine earlier, and was tested during quarantine to determine his status.

Five of the community cases are currently unlinked. Of these, three cases (Nos. 56187, 56190 and 56269) were identified as a result of rostered routine testing of workers in the construction, marine and process sectors who are living outside the dormitories. Another case (No. 56200) was tested as part of efforts to screen individuals working in frontline COVID-19 operations. The remaining case (No. 56184) – a 61-year-old Singaporean man – was detected under enhanced community testing to test all individuals aged 13 and above who are diagnosed with acute respiratory infection (ARI) at first presentation to a doctor.

Besides the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, authorities also conducted serological tests to determine if some of these cases are current or past infections. The serological test results for case 56200, a 47-year-old Singaporean woman, and the Singaporean boy have come back positive, which indicate likely past infections. The test results for the remaining cases are pending.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has remained stable at an average of two cases per day in the past two weeks. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also remained stable at an average of one case per day in the past two weeks.

Amongst the 13 imported cases, one (case 56203) is a 49-year-old Singaporean man who returned to Singapore from India on 7 August. Another five (cases 56201, 56202, 56217, 56223 and 56270) are work pass/ work permit holders currently employed in Singapore, who arrived from the Philippines between 7 August and 9 August, and the UK on 10 August. An additional 4 cases (cases 56220, 56271, 56275 and 56276) are dependant’s pass or long-term visit pass holders who arrived from India on 10 August and the UK between 8 August and 10 August.

The remaining cases (Nos. 56242 and 56243) are short-term visit pass holders who arrived from India on 7 August and the Philippines on 9 August. They were allowed entry into Singapore because one is a spouse and caregiver of a patient who has been receiving medical treatment in Singapore and another is employed on a project basis to work in Singapore.

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

Over 53,600 discharged; none in ICU

A total of 532 more patients were discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Friday. In all, 53,651 – some 95 per cent of the tally – have fully recovered from the infection and been discharged.

Most of the 72 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, and none are in the intensive care unit.

A total of 2,466 are isolated and cared for at community facilities. These patients have mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19.

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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