No community cases among 91 new COVID-19 infections in S'pore; 94% of total recovered

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed another 91 COVID-19 cases in Singapore as of Monday (17 August), taking the country’s total to 55,838, as well as 397 more recoveries.

Of them, six are imported – including two Singaporeans – while there are no community cases, a first since last Friday. The remaining 85 are work permit holders living in dormitories currently under quarantine, said the ministry.

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

Amongst the six imported cases, three – cases 55868, 55897, and 55922 – are Singapore residents, including two Singaporeans and one permanent resident, who returned here from India on 5, 9, and 16 August.

The other three cases – 55832, 55861 and 55862 – are work pass or permit holders currently employed in here and had arrived from India, Indonesia, and the USA on 5 August.

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

The ministry added that the number of new cases in the community has remained stable at an average of two cases per day in the past two weeks.

Similarly, the number of unlinked cases in the community has also remained stable at an average of one case per day in the past two weeks.

Authorities here have completed the testing of all workers in the dorms, with around 18,600 of them currently serving out their quarantine period.

“These workers will be tested when their quarantine ends, and we expect the case counts to remain high in the coming days, before tapering down thereafter,” reiterated the MOH.

The ministry also announced the closure of three dorm clusters at 9 Kian Teck Drive, 3 Senoko Link and 16 Tuas Avenue 3. They now house only recovered individuals and those who have recently tested negative for COVID-19, it added.

Of Singapore’s COVID-19 cases, 52,814 – or some 95 per cent – are foreign workers living in dorms.

Over 52,000 discharged; none in ICU

A total of 397 more patients were discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Monday. In all, 52,350 – some 94 per cent of the tally – have fully recovered from the infection and been discharged.

Most of the 82 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, and none are in the intensive care unit.

A total of 3,379 are isolated and cared for at community facilities. These patients have mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19.

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.

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