Almost all 34 new COVID cases in Singapore asymptomatic; all 6 imported cases travelled from India

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed 34 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore as of Tuesday (15 September), bringing the country’s total to 57,488.

All but two of the new cases are asymptomatic and were proactively detected, said the MOH.

There are no community cases for a second consecutive day. All six imported cases – including two permanent residents – had travelled from India.

The remaining 28 cases are foreign workers living in dormitories, of which 13 had been identified earlier as contacts of previous cases, and had already been quarantined.

Overall, 12 per cent of the new cases have no established links.

The MOH said on Tuesday that the number of new cases in the community has decreased, from an average of two cases per day in the week before to an average of one per day in the past week.

Similarly, the number of unlinked cases in the community has also decreased, from an average of two cases per day in the week before to an average of one per day in the past week.

All but one of the imported cases – including two PRs, two work pass or permit holders, and two dependant’s pass holders – arrived from India in Singapore on 3 September. One case, one of the two dependant’s pass holders, had arrived on 30 August.

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

From 12am on Thursday, non-Singapore residents – who are not Singaporeans and permanent residents (PRs) – must test negative for the virus before they travel from India to Singapore.

The measure was announced by authorities last week given a resurgence of COVID-19 infections in India and a significant number of imported cases with recent travel to the country.

15 cases in dorms detected via surveillance testing

Of the 28 cases residing in dorms, 13 had been identified earlier as contacts of previous cases and were tested during quarantine, said the MOH.

The remaining 15 cases were detected through surveillance testing, it added.

Besides the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, administered via swabbing, serological tests were also conducted to determine if some of the cases are current or past infections.

“The serological test results for 14 cases have come back positive so far, which indicate likely past infection,” said the MOH.

Of Singapore’s COVID-19 tally, 54,242 – or 94.4 per cent – are foreign workers living in dorms.

Some 99% of total cases have recovered

With 82 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Tuesday, 56,884 cases – or 98.9 per cent of the total – have fully recovered from the infection.

Most of the 51 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, while none is in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

A total of 526 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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