251 More Cases Discharged, 249 New Cases of COVID-19 Infection Confirmed

      As of 15 July 2020, 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified an additional 249 cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore. The breakdown of the cases is as follows:

a) Imported cases: 5 (1 Singaporean, 1 Work Pass holder, 1 Student’s Pass holder, 1 Long-Term Visit Pass holder, 1 Short-Term Visit Pass holder)

Amongst the 5 imported cases, 1 (Case 46809) is a Singaporean who returned from India on 3 July. Another 2 cases (Cases 46744 and 46795) are Work Pass or Student’s Pass holders who are currently employed or study in Singapore.  Another case (Case 46743) is a Long-Term Visit Pass holder whose spouse is a Singapore Permanent Resident. All of them had been placed on 14-day Stay-Home Notice (SHN) upon arrival in Singapore, and had been tested while serving their SHN.

The remaining case (Case 46802) had been conveyed in a dedicated transport from Changi Airport to a vessel at Jurong Port upon arrival in Singapore, where he had remained until he was placed on quarantine at a government quarantine facility.

b) Cases in the community: 15 ^[1] (3 Work Pass holders, 12 Work Permit holders)

Of the 15 cases in the community, 11 were picked up as a result of our proactive surveillance and screening, and 3 had already been placed on quarantine earlier. 14 of the cases are asymptomatic, and were detected through our proactive testing. 

5 of the community cases today are linked to previous cases or clusters. Of these, 3 cases (Cases 46766, 46942 and 46943) had been identified as contacts of previously confirmed cases, and had been tested during their quarantine to determine their status, even though they are asymptomatic. The remaining 2 cases (Cases 46807 and 46812) are also asymptomatic, and were swabbed as part of our periodic screening of workers in the construction sector. 

10 of the community cases are currently unlinked. Of these, 9 cases had been detected as a result of our screening of workers in essential services who are living outside the dormitories. Epidemiological investigations are ongoing for the remaining case (Case 46730), who was swabbed 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 detect infected individuals early and to quickly contain further spread. 

Epidemiological investigations of the unlinked cases are in progress. In the meantime, all the identified close contacts of the cases have been isolated and placed on quarantine, and will be tested at the start and end of their quarantine period so that we can detect asymptomatic cases. We will also conduct serological tests for their household contacts to determine if these cases could have been infected by them. 

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has decreased, from an average of 14 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 13 per day in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has increased, from an average of 6 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 8 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: 229

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, 94% are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing. 

4.   The Inter-Agency Task Force has been systematically and progressively clearing dormitories through aggressive testing of migrant workers residing in dormitories. The dormitory at 11 Tuas Avenue 10 has been cleared, and now houses only recovered individuals and those who have recently tested negative for COVID-19 infection. As such, the cluster has now been closed.

Links between previous cases found

5.   In the past week (8 July to 14 July), MOH has uncovered links for 11 previously unlinked cases. 

6.   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

7.    251 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 42,988 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities. 

8.   There are currently 159 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and none is in the intensive care unit. 3,704 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. 

MINISTRY OF HEALTH
15 JULY 2020

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[1] Updated from the afternoon press release as one case has been re-classified following contact tracing.