No Singapore residents among 151 new COVID-19 infections; 2 community cases

SINGAPORE — In its lowest daily reported tally in over two months, the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Tuesday (16 June) confirmed 151 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore, bringing the total number of cases to 40,969.

There are no Singaporeans or permanent residents among the new cases for the second consecutive day. The latest tally is the lowest since the 142 cases reported on 8 April.

Of the new cases, 149 are foreign workers living in dorms while two work permit holders are classified as cases in the community.

The two community cases – a 25-year-old male Indian national and a 39-year-old male Myanmar national – were detected as a result of proactive screening of workers in essential services, even though they are asymptomatic, said the MOH.

The men were classified as local unlinked cases, part of the three per cent, of new cases on Tuesday, to have no established links.

They had been subjected to both polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, or swab tests, and serological tests, which can determine if they are current or past infections.

The serological test result for the younger man, identified as case 40857, came out positive, which indicates likely past infection, while the test result for the older man is pending.

The ministry said that the number of new cases in the community has decreased from an average of nine cases per day in the week before, to an average of seven per day in the past week.

Similarly, 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 three per day in the past week.

Sri Murugan Trading, Prime Supermarket added to list

On Tuesday, the ministry also added two more public places and an additional entry to a list of locations – first published on 25 May – visited by infectious cases in the community for over 30 minutes.

Sri Murugan Trading at 86 Syed Alwi Road was visited on 11 June from 5.30pm to 6pm, while Prime Supermarket at 803 King George’s Avenue was visited on 14 June from 8pm to 9pm.

New World Centre’s Sheng Siong Supermarket, which was visited on 4 June, was also visited on 14 June from 5.30pm to 6pm.

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

Dozens of clusters linked to foreign worker dorms have been identified thus far, including Singapore’s largest cluster of 2,758 cases linked to S11 Dormitory@Punggol, followed by Sungei Tengah Lodge with 2,042 cases, Jurong Penjuru Dormitory with 1,713 cases, Cassia @ Penjuru with 1,460 cases, and Tuas View Dormitory with 1,406 cases.

These dorms, the top five clusters with the highest number of cases here, account for some 24 per cent of the total 38,587 infected workers living in dorms in Singapore.

Some 400,000 such workers live in dorms here. To date, 132 dorms and 14 blocks of recovered workers in purpose-built dorms have been cleared of COVID-19.

(For more information on the clusters, read here.)

Over 31,100 have recovered

With 797 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Tuesday, 31,163 cases – some 76 per cent of the total tally – have fully recovered from the infection.

Most of the 269 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, while two are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

A total of 9,511 patients with mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive are isolated and cared for at community facilities.

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.

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