183 More Cases Discharged, 396 New Cases of COVID-19 Infection Confirmed

1. As of 31 July 2020, 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified an additional 396 cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore. The breakdown of the cases is as follows:

a) Imported cases: 3 (2 Singaporeans/Permanent Residents, 1 Dependant’s Pass holder)

Amongst the 3 imported cases, 2 (Cases 52004 and 52049) are Singaporeans/ Permanent Residents who returned to Singapore from India on 3 July and 19 July. The remaining case (Case 51921) is a Dependant’s Pass holder who arrived from India on 19 July. All of them had been placed on 14-day Stay-Home Notice (SHN) upon arrival in Singapore, and were serving their SHN at dedicated facilities. They had been tested while serving their SHN. Case 52004 had additionally been placed on quarantine following her SHN as she had been identified as a contact of previously confirmed cases, and was tested positive for COVID-19 during quarantine.

b) Cases in the community: 3 (1 Work Pass holder, 1 Work Permit holder, 1 Short-Term Visit Pass holder¹)

Of the 3 cases in the community, 1 was picked up as a result of our proactive surveillance and screening, and 1 had already been placed on quarantine earlier. 2 of the cases are asymptomatic, and were detected through our proactive testing

1 of the community cases today is linked to previous cases or clusters. Case 52072 had been identified as a contact of a previously confirmed case, and had been placed on quarantine earlier. He was tested during quarantine to determine his status, even though he is asymptomatic.

2 of the community cases are currently unlinked. 1 of the cases (Case 52090) was detected from our proactive screening of workers in essential services who are living outside the dormitories, even though he is asymptomatic. His serological test result has come back positive, which indicates likely past infection. The remaining case (Case 51908) was tested under our enhanced community testing to test all individuals aged 13 and above who are diagnosed with acute respiratory infection at first presentation to a doctor. This allows us to identify infected individuals early and to quickly contain further spread.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has decreased, from an average of 8 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 3 per day in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also decreased, from an average of 4 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 1 per day in the past week. We will continue to closely monitor these numbers, as well as the cases detected through our surveillance programme.

c) Cases residing in dormitories: 390

We continue to pick up cases amongst Work Permit holders residing in dormitories, including in factory-converted dormitories, because of extensive testing in these premises, as part of our process to verify and test the status of all workers.

2. Details of these trends can be found in MOH’s daily situation Report (www.moh.gov.sg/covid-19/situation-report). Please refer to Annex A for the summary of the confirmed cases.

3. Of the new cases, 99% are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.

Links between previous cases found

4. Further epidemiological investigations and contact tracing have uncovered links between previously announced and new cases. Please refer to Annex B and Annex C for details.

Update on condition of confirmed cases

5. 183 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 46,491 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.

6. There are currently 136 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and none is in the intensive care unit. 5,551 are 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. 27 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection.

[1] Updated from the afternoon press release as the Pass type of a case has been re-classified following contact tracing. The case arrived in Singapore in December 2019, and her Short-Term Visit Pass had been extended as she was receiving medical treatment for an unrelated condition.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH
31 JULY 2020