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COVID-19: Singapore confirms 307 new cases, five imported including 1-year-old boy

SINGAPORE - MAY 26:  A woman wearing protective mask pushes a stroller with the Marina Bay Sands, ArtScience museum and the central business district pictured in the background on May 26, 2020 in Singapore. Singapore is set to ease the partial lockdown measures against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic after 1 June in three phases to resume activities safely after it sees a decline in the new infection cases in the community. Singapore's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to shrink as much as 7 percent this year as the country battles the slump in global trade and travel amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to the government report in the local media today.  (Photo by Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images)
A woman wearing protective mask pushes a stroller in Singapore. (PHOTO: Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images)

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 307 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore as of Saturday (1 August) noon, taking the country’s total to 52,512.

Of the new cases, one is classified as a case in the community, while five are imported cases. The remaining are foreign workers living in dorms.

The community case (Case 52334), a 26-year-old Singaporean woman, was detected under the ministry’s enhanced community testing to test all individuals aged 13 and above who are diagnosed with acute respiratory infection at first presentation to a doctor. The case is currently unlinked.

There are two work pass holders, two dependant’s pass holders and one long-term visit pass holder among the imported cases. Cases 52303 and 52352 are work pass holders are currently employed in Singapore and had arrived from the Philippines on 29 July and India on 20 July respectively.

Cases 52321 – a one-year-old Indian boy – and 52353 are dependant’s pass holders who arrived from India on 19 July and 20 July. Case 52299 is a long-term visit pass holder who arrived from China on 20 July. All of them had been placed on 14-day Stay-Home Notice (SHN) upon arrival in Singapore, and were tested while serving their SHN, the MOH said.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has decreased, said the ministry, from an average of seven cases per day in the week before, to an average of three per day in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also decreased, from an average of four cases per day in the week before, to an average of one per day in the past week.

The ministry also announced that the following migrant worker dormitories have been cleared, and now house only recovered individuals and those who have recently tested negative for COVID-19 infection. As such, the clusters are now closed.

List of dormitories cleared and clusters closed. (List: MOH)
List of dormitories cleared and clusters closed. (List: MOH)

Previously, the Ministry of Manpower said that 95 more dormitories have been cleared of COVID-19 as of Wednesday (29 July). These comprise one purpose-built dormitory (PBD), 78 factory-converted dormitories and 16 construction temporary quarters. In addition, 12 blocks for recovered workers (BRWs) in six PBDs have been cleared.

This takes the total number to 975 dormitories and 64 BRWs in 17 PBDs cleared of COVID-19. As of 28 July 2020, about 262,000 workers (approximately 85 per cent) have either recovered or have been tested to be free from the virus.

Authorities here expect to clear all dorms and workers residing in them by 7 August, with the exception of 17 standalone blocks in eight purpose-built dorms, which serve as quarantine facilities as well as 28,000 workers still serving out their isolation period.

Over 46,400 recovered, zero in ICU

With 249 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Saturday, 46,740 cases have fully recovered from the infection.

Most of the 117 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, while none are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

A total of 5,628 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.

“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.

As of 27 July, the ministry has conducted 1,321,094 swab tests, of which 616,310 were done on unique individuals. This translates to around 231,800 swabs conducted per 1 million total population, and about 108,100 unique individuals swabbed per 1 million total population.

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