COVID-19: Singapore confirms 26 new cases, all imported
SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed 26 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore as of Saturday (6 February), taking the country’s total case count to 59,675.
There are no new cases of locally-transmitted infection.
“There are 26 imported cases, who had already been placed on Stay-Home Notice upon arrival in Singapore,” said the ministry. 25 are asymptomatic and were detected from proactive screening and surveillance, while one was symptomatic.
Singapore has also reported its first likely case of COVID-19 re-infection.
Among the 26 new cases:
Two are Singaporeans and six are permanent residents who returned from Gabon, India, Malaysia, the UK and the US
One is a dependant's pass holder who arrived from India
One is a student's pass holder who arrived from India
Two are work pass holders who arrived from Germany and the UAE
Nine are work permit holders who arrived from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar, of whom six are foreign domestic workers
Five are short-term visit pass holders. Three arrived from the Philippines and UAE for work projects in Singapore. The rest arrived from India to visit their family members who are Singaporeans or PRs.
Two cases classified as imported
Case 59996 is a 12 year-old female PR who returned from India on 26 December and served SHN at a dedicated facility upon arrival. She was subsequently placed on quarantine until 9 January. She is asymptomatic, and was detected when she took a COVID-19 pre-departure test on 4 February in preparation for her return to India.
Case 60013 is a 20 year-old male PR who returned from the UK, where he is studying, on 29 November and served SHN at a dedicated facility until 13 December. His swab done on 9 December during SHN was negative for COVID-19. He is asymptomatic, and was detected when he took a COVID-19 pre-departure test on 4 February in preparation for his trip back to the UK.
Both cases had very high Ct value, which is indicative of a low viral load, and their serology test results have also come back positive. “Given that these indicate likely past infection, we have classified the cases as imported based on their travel history. They are likely to be shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA, which are no longer transmissible and infective to others,” said MOH.
Overall, the number of new cases in the community has decreased from three cases in the week before to one case in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also decreased from two in the week before to one in the past week.
99% of total cases have recovered, 1 in ICU
With 32 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Saturday, 59,405 cases – or 99.5 per cent of the total – have fully recovered from the infection.
Most of the 39 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, and one in the intensive care unit.
A total of 202 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 168 confirmed cases reported from 31 January to 6 February, 75 cases have tested positive for their serology tests, 27 have tested negative, and 66 serology test results are pending.
WATCH: Free COVID-19 vaccine in Singapore
Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore
Other Singapore stories:
Total Defence: Students hope to inspire others to donate blood through animation
SportSG considering stricter penalties for those who on-sell booking slots of its facilities
Orchard Towers death: Last man facing non-capital charge pleads guilty
Permanent resident has status revoked after conviction for COVID-19 offences