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COVID-19: Singapore confirms 13 new cases, 1 in the community

People jogging along the Jubilee Bridge at Marina Bay in Singapore.
People jogging along the Jubilee Bridge at Marina Bay in Singapore. (PHOTO: Suhaimi Abdullah/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed 13 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore on Saturday (6 March), taking the country's total case count to 60,020.

There is one new case of locally-transmitted infection.

"Based on our investigations so far, the case is in the community, and there are no new cases in the dormitories," said the ministry.

"In addition, there are 12 imported cases, who had already been placed on Stay-Home Notice upon arrival in Singapore."

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has remained stable at four cases per week in the past two weeks. The number of unlinked cases in the community has increased from two cases in the week before to three in the past week.

One unlinked community case

The sole community case is a 35 year-old Indonesian domestic worker who is currently unlinked. She arrived in Singapore on 20 January and served SHN at a dedicated facility until 3 February. Her swab done on 2 February was negative for COVID-19, as was her pre-departure test taken on 18 January while she was in Indonesia.

She is asymptomatic, and was detected when she took a coronavirus pre-departure test on 4 March in preparation for her return to Indonesia. Her test result came back positive, and she was conveyed to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

Another test taken by the National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) on 5 March came back negative for COVID-19 infection, and her serological test result has come back positive, which indicates a likely past infection. She is likely to be shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA, which are no longer transmissible and infective to others.

"However as we are unable to definitively confirm her date of infection, we will take all the necessary public health actions as a precautionary measure, including placing all her identified close contacts on quarantine," said MOH.

12 imported cases

Amongst the 12 imported cases:

  • One is a Singaporean, and another is a permanent resident who returned from Indonesia and Malaysia

  • Two are dependant’s pass holders who arrived from India

  • One is a work pass holder who arrived from India

  • Seven are work permit holders who arrived from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines, of whom three are domestic workers.

The work pass holder is a 27-year-old female Indian national who has not started work yet. She arrived in Singapore on 8 February and served SHN at a dedicated facility until 22 February.

Her test taken on 21 February was negative for COVID-19. As part of her pre-employment health screening, she was tested for COVID-19 on 4 March even though she is asymptomatic, and her test came back positive.

Another test taken by NPHL on 5 March was negative for COVID-19 infection, and her serological test result has come back positive. She had also earlier tested positive for an antigen test in India last November.

"Given that these indicate likely past infection, we have classified the case as imported. She is likely to be shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA, which are no longer transmissible and infective to others," said MOH.

99% of total cases have recovered, 1 in ICU

With nine more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Saturday, 59,879 cases – or 99.8 per cent of the total – have fully recovered from the infection.

Most of the 22 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, with one of them in the intensive care unit.

A total of 90 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 95 confirmed cases reported from 28 February to 6 March, 56 cases have tested positive for their serology tests, 26 have tested negative, and 13 serology test results are pending.

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