321 MORE CASES DISCHARGED, 158 NEW CASES OF COVID-19 INFECTION CONFIRMED

1.      As of 8 July 2020, 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified an additional 158 cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore. The breakdown is as follows:

a)      Imported cases: 3 (1 Singaporean, 2 Dependant's Pass holders)

Amongst the 3 imported cases, 2 (Cases 45196 and 45197) are Indian nationals who are Dependant's Pass holders, and have returned to Singapore from India on 26 June. The remaining case (Case 45241) is a Singaporean who returned to Singapore from the Philippines on 26 June. 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.

b)      Cases in the community: 9 (4 Singaporeans/ Permanent Residents, 2 Work Pass holders, 3 Work Permit holders)

Of the 9 cases in the community, 4 were picked up as a result of our proactive surveillance and screening, and 2 had already been placed on quarantine earlier. 6 of the cases are asymptomatic, and were all detected through our proactive testing.

3 of the community cases today are linked to previous cases or clusters. Of these, 2 (Cases 45250 and 45307) had been identified as contacts of previously confirmed cases, and had been tested during their quarantine to determine their status. The remaining case (Case 45288) is asymptomatic, and was detected as a result of our proactive screening of workers in essential services.

6 of the community cases are currently unlinked. Of these, 3 cases (Cases 45290, 45289 and 45291) were tested as they work in essential services, even though they are asymptomatic. The remaining 3 cases (Cases 45183, 45227 and 45242) were 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 are ongoing for these cases.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased, from an average of 8 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 14 per day in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased, from an average of 4 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 6 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: 146

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, 96% 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 following dormitories have been cleared, and now house only recovered individuals and those who have recently tested negative for COVID-19 infection. As such, the clusters have now been closed.

10 Tuas South Street 12;
109 Ubi Avenue 4;
11 Defu Lane 1;
12 Kwong Min Road;
18 Woodlands Industrial Park E1;
55 Genting Lane; and
6 Tuas View Square.

Links between previous cases found

5.      In the past week (1 July to 7 July), MOH has uncovered links for 2 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.      321 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 41,323 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.

8.      There are currently 215 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. 3,734 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.

9.      Case 45227, a 69 year-old male Singaporean, has passed away on 7 July 2020. He had been found unresponsive at his place of residence and was conveyed to Sengkang General Hospital's emergency department on 7 July. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on the same day. He had a history of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, hypothyroidism and chronic kidney disease. The preliminary cause of death is cardiorespiratory failure, pending further investigations by the Coroner¹.

[1] 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. This is consistent with international practice for classifying deaths.