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COVID-19: Singapore confirms 347 new cases; total surpasses 40,000

A man rides a bicycle past commercial buildings in the financial business district in Singapore on June 11, 2020, as the city state eased its partial lockdown restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. (Photo by ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP) (Photo by ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
A man rides a bicycle past commercial buildings in the central business district in Singapore. (PHOTO: Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images)

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 347 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore as of Saturday (13 June) noon, bringing the total number of cases past 40,000, at 40,197.

The breakdown is as follows:

  • Imported cases: 0

  • Cases in the community: 5 (two Singaporeans, three work permit holders)

  • Cases residing in dormitories: 342

Of the community cases, three were picked up as a result of proactive surveillance and screening, and one had already been placed on quarantine.

Case 39893, a Singaporean, was tested as part of proactive testing of school students above the age of 12 diagnosed with acute respiratory infection (ARI) at first presentation to a doctor. Her serological test result came back positive, which is indicative of a past infection.

“The epidemiological evidence suggests that she was likely to have been infected during the Circuit Breaker period, and not after school re-opening. The other (Singaporean) case (Case 39901) was swabbed as she works at SCM Tuas Lodge, a dormitory,” said MOH.

Amongst the trio of work pass/work permit holders, Case 40027 was a contact of previously confirmed cases, and had already been quarantined at a government quarantine facility. He was swabbed during quarantine to verify his status.

Another case (Case 40134) was tested as part of efforts to screen workers in essential services. The remaining case is linked to the cluster at Alaunia Lodge.

One more death

Case 161, a 73-year-old-male Singapore citizen, died from complications due to COVID-19 infection on Friday. He became a confirmed case on 9 March, and had a history of hypertension, hyperlipidaemia and chronic kidney disease. The patient is linked to the Safra Jurong cluster.

Increase in community and unlinked cases

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased, from an average of seven per day in the week before, to an average of eight per day in the past week.

The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased, from an average of two per day in the week before, to an average of four per day in the past week. This is partly due to active surveillance and screening of targeted groups, which have picked up more cases in the past week.

One additional infection cluster has also been identified at a dormitory at 50 Tech Park Crescent.

Dozens of clusters linked to foreign worker dorms have been identified thus far, including Singapore’s largest cluster of over 2,700 cases linked to S11 Dormitory@Punggol, followed by Sungei Tengah Lodge, Jurong Penjuru Dormitory, Tuas View Dormitory and Cassia @ Penjuru.

The five are among the 25 dorms that have been gazetted as isolation areas.

About 10 per cent of some 400,000 such workers who live in dorms have been cleared of the infection, said Manpower Minister Josephine Teo on 1 June during a press conference.

Over 20,000 infected foreign workers have recovered, she added.

Over 70% of patients recovered

Another 768 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 28,808 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged.

There are currently 228 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and one is in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

Meanwhile, 11,135 are being isolated and cared for at community facilities. These are those who have mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19.

Separately, 26 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection.

Apart from 26 patients who have died from COVID-19 complications, 10 others who tested positive for the virus have died from unrelated causes, including three whose deaths were attributed to a heart attack and another three, including the 44-year-old male Indian national who died on 8 June, 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 8 June, the ministry has conducted 488,695 swab tests, of which 284,963 were done on unique individuals. This translates to around 85,700 swabs conducted per 1 million total population, and about 50,000 unique individuals swabbed per 1 million total population.

INFOGRAPHIC: MOH
INFOGRAPHIC: MOH

On Saturday, MOH added six more public places to a list of locations – first published on 25 May – visited by infectious cases in the community for over 30 minutes.

The places include New World Centre, 18 Marsiling Lane and the Poiz Centre.

The list – which excludes residences, workplaces, healthcare facilities, and public transport – will be updated on a rolling 14-day basis or one incubation period.

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