Almost all 15 new COVID cases in Singapore asymptomatic, 5 imported

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed 15 new cases in Singapore as of Thursday (24 September), bringing the country’s total to 57,654.

The MOH also announced the closure of a cluster at a dormitory at 15 Kaki Bukit Crescent, as no cases have been linked to it for the past two incubation periods, or 28 days.

All but two of the new cases are asymptomatic and proactively detected.

There are no cases in the community, while there are five imported cases, including a Singaporean.

The remaining 10 cases are foreign workers residing in dormitories, of which half had been identified earlier as contacts of previous cases, and had already been quarantined, said the MOH.

Overall, 27 per cent of the new cases have no established links.

The ministry said the number of new cases in the community has remained stable at an average of fewer than one case per day in the past two weeks. Similarly, the number of unlinked cases in the community has remained stable at an average of fewer than one case per day in the past two weeks, it added.

Four of the five imported cases arrived from India, including a Singaporean and permanent resident who returned to Singapore on 12 and 19 September.

The other two cases, who arrived from India on 12 September, are a work pass holder, who is currently employed here, and a dependant’s pass holder.

The fifth imported case is a long-term visit pass holder who arrived from Indonesia on 22 September.

All of them had been placed on the 14-day stay-home notice upon their arrival here and were tested while serving their notice at dedicated facilities, said the MOH.

Half of cases in dorms detected via surveillance testing

Amongst the 10 cases residing in dorms, five had been identified earlier as contacts of previous cases, and were tested during quarantine to determine their status, said the MOH.

The remaining five cases were detected through surveillance testing, such as the bi-weekly rostered routine testing of workers living in dorms.

As of last Friday, about 5,700 workers who are required to undergo the rostered routine testing have yet to do so, said the Ministry of Manpower, Economic Development Board, Building and Construction Authority, and Health Promotion Board in a joint statement on the same day.

Of Singapore’s COVID-19 tally, 54,370 – or 94.3 per cent – are foreign workers living in dorms.

99% of total cases have recovered

With 42 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Thursday, 57,333 cases – or 99.4 per cent of the total – have fully recovered from the infection.

Most of the 28 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, while none is in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

A total of 266 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.

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