221 More Cases Discharged, 219 New Cases Of COVID-19 Infection Confirmed

1. As of 26 June 2020, 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified an additional 219 cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore. The breakdown is as follows:

a) Imported cases: 0

There are no imported cases today.

b) Cases in the community: 6 (5 Singaporeans, 1 Work Pass holder)

Of the 6 cases in the community, 2 had been picked up as a result of our proactive surveillance and screening, and 2 had already been placed on quarantine earlier.

Amongst the 5 Singaporean cases, 3 (Cases 42787, 42940 and 42943) had been tested after we had identified them as close contacts of previous cases. Of these, 2 (Cases 42787 and 42943) had already been quarantined, and were swabbed during quarantine to verify their status. Case 42808 was detected due to our proactive surveillance of persons working at dormitories, even though he is asymptomatic. From 3 June 2020, we have been conducting surveillance tests for non-residential community care staff in settings such as kidney dialysis centres, home care services, day hospices, and senior care centres as we transition into Phase One and Phase Two. To date, we have tested more than 5,500 staff  (out of an estimated 5,700 staff to be tested), and one (Case 42987) has come back positive. Her serological test result has also come back positive, which indicates likely past infection¹.

One of the new cases today had met a large group of social contacts for sports and social activities. Such behaviour increases the risk of transmission and has resulted in his contacts being quarantined. We will be investigating this case. We advise the public to abide by the spirit of the rule to limit social gatherings to not more than 5 persons.

The Work Pass holder (Case 42955) had been swabbed after we identified him as a contact of previous cases.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased, from an average of 4 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 5 per day in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has remained stable at an average of 2 per day in the past two weeks. We will continue to closely monitor these numbers, as well as the cases detected through our surveillance programme.

c) Cases residing in dormitories: 213

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, 98% are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.

Links between previous cases found

4. In the past week (19 June to 25 June), MOH has uncovered links for 7 previously unlinked cases.

5. 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.

Cases from public healthcare sector

Case 42940

6. Case 42940 is a 23 year-old male Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries or regions. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 25 June, and is currently warded at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH).

7. He is employed as a nurse at NTFGH but had not gone to work since onset of symptoms.

Case 42987

8. Case 42987 is a 27 year-old female Singapore Citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries or regions. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 25 June, and is currently warded at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases. Her serological test result has come back positive.

9. She is asymptomatic. Prior to hospital admission, she had gone to work at Vanguard Senior Care Centre (Woodlands).

Update on condition of confirmed cases

10. 221 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 36,825 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.

11. There are currently 183 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and 1 is in critical condition in the intensive care unit. 5,921 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. 26 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection.

[1] Cases whose serological tests are positive are likely to have a past infection, and could be shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA picked by the PCR test, which were no longer transmissible and infective to others.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH
26 JUNE 2020