MOH revises daily COVID-19 count: 86 new cases, one additional dorm cluster

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed 86 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore as of Friday (11 September), bringing the country’s total to 57,315.

The figure was revised from 87 with the removal of a case classified as imported following an investigation, said the MOH.

“Case 57451 has presented medical records documenting that she had earlier recovered from COVID-19 infection and is no longer infectious,” it added.

The ministry also announced an additional cluster of five total cases linked to the SCM Tuas Lodge at 80 Tuas South Boulevard.

Among the 86 new cases, all but one are asymptomatic and were proactively detected, said the MOH. There are no community cases and 13 imported cases. Of the 73 cases living in foreign worker dormitories, 33 are from Avery Lodge Dormitory.

Overall, 14 per cent of new cases have no established links.

Amongst the 13 imported cases, three are Singaporeans and seven are permanent residents who returned to Singapore from Egypt on 27 August, India on 28 August and 30 August, and the Philippines on 30 August.

Another two are dependant’s pass holders who arrived from India on 30 August and the USA on 30 August. The remaining case is a student’s pass holder who arrived from India on 30 August.

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

The ministry noted that the number of new cases in the community has decreased, from an average of three cases per day in the week before, to an average of two 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.

39 cases in foreign worker dorms detected via surveillance testing

Amongst the 73 cases residing in dorms, 34 had been identified earlier as contacts of previous cases, and had already been quarantined as well as tested during the quarantine, said the MOH.

The remaining 39 cases were detected through surveillance testing.

“Of the cases residing in dormitories today, 33 are from Avery Lodge Dormitory, the majority of whom had been placed on quarantine earlier and were tested during quarantine to determine their status. The remaining cases were detected through surveillance testing,” the ministry added.

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

“The serological test results for 38 cases have come back positive so far, which indicate likely past infections.” said the MOH.

Foreign workers living in dorms make up 94.4 per cent – or 54,103 cases – of Singapore’s total COVID-19 tally.

Some 99% of total cases have recovered

With 49 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Friday, 56,607 cases – or 98.8% of the total – have fully recovered from the infection.

Most of the 49 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, while none is in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

A total of 632 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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