34 More Cases Discharged, 942 New Cases of COVID-19 Infection Confirmed

          As of 18 April 2020, 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified an additional 942 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: 22 (14 Singaporeans/Permanent Residents, 6 Work Passes, 1 Dependant’s Pass, 1 Long-Term Visit Pass)

The number of new cases in the community has decreased, from an average of 40 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 31 per day in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has increased slightly, from an average of 19 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 22 per day in the past week. 

We will continue to monitor the numbers carefully as the circuit breaker period continues. The contact tracing and epidemiology teams are working to identify the source of infection for the unlinked cases, but this will become increasingly difficult as time passes. Our surveillance programme is also ongoing, where a small sample of patients at our primary care facilities are tested for COVID-19 infection. The cases picked up through this surveillance is an indication of the presence of undetected cases in the community.

c)            Work Permit holders (residing outside dormitories): 27

The number of new cases amongst Work Permit holders residing outside dormitories has increased, from an average of 11 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 21 per day in the past week. 

d)            Work Permit holders (residing in dormitories): 893

The main increase today continues to be for Work Permit holders residing in dormitories, in line with our continued efforts to actively test and isolate the infected workers. Most of these cases are young, have a mild illness and are being monitored in the community isolation facilities or general ward of our hospitals. None of them is in the intensive care unit.

2.            Details of these trends can be found in MOH’s daily situation Report (www.moh.gov.sg/covid-19/situation-report).

3.            Of the new cases, 79% are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.

4.            MOH has been monitoring existing clusters for any further transmission. As there have been no more cases linked to boulder+ Gym (12 Kallang Avenue) for the past two incubation periods (i.e. 28 days), the cluster has now been closed.

Links between previous cases found

5.            In the past week (11 April to 17 April), MOH has uncovered links for 517 previously unlinked cases (see Annex A).

6.            Further epidemiological investigations and contact tracing have uncovered links between previously announced and new cases. A summary of the confirmed cases are in Annex B.

7.            Please refer to the MOH website for the situation report (www.moh.gov.sg/covid-19/situation-report).

Cases from public healthcare sector

Case 5539

8.            Case 5539 is a 28 year-old male Indian national who has no recent travel history to affected countries or regions. He reported onset of symptoms on 15 April, and subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 17 April. He is currently warded at Singapore General Hospital (SGH).

9.            He is employed as a housekeeper at SGH but had not gone to work since onset of symptoms.

Update on condition of confirmed cases

10.          34 more cases^[1] of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 737 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities.

11.          Of the 2,563 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving. 23 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit. 2,678 cases who are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19 are isolated and cared for at community facilities. 11 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection.

12.          Case 4754, a 40 year-old male Malaysian national, has passed away on 18 April 2020. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 17 April. The cause of death was acute myocardial infarction with cardiogenic shock, and was not due to complications from COVID-19 infection.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH
18 APRIL 2020

^[1]  Cases 190, 305, 324, 344, 387, 490, 500, 507, 508, 517, 521, 587, 603, 660, 676, 705, 741, 845, 873, 907, 1136, 1272, 1335, 1386, 1398, 1431, 1548, 2212, 2504, 2535, 2537, 2563, 3468 and 4754.

Note: Some cases that were confirmed and verified after 12pm, 18 April had been included in the clusters case listing. We have amended the listing to exclude them from the Annex of the 18 April release.