Press Releases
1 new case of locally transmitted COVID-19 infection
31 March 2021
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1. As of 31 March 2021, 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified that there is 1 new case of locally transmitted COVID-19 infection. The case is in the community, and there are no new cases in the dormitories. There are 33 imported cases, who had already been placed on Stay-Home Notice (SHN) or isolated upon arrival in Singapore. Amongst the new cases today, 31 are asymptomatic, and were detected from our proactive screening and surveillance, while 3 were symptomatic.
Summary of new cases
Breakdown by | Breakdown by | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of cases | Already in quarantine/ isolation before detection | Detected from surveillance | Symptomatic | Asymptomatic | |
Cases in the community | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Cases residing in dormitories | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Imported cases | 33 | 33 | 0 | 3 | 30 |
Total | 34 | ||||
2. Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased from none in the week before to 3 cases in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from none in the week before to 3 cases in the past week. We will continue to closely monitor these numbers, as well as the cases detected through our surveillance programme.
3. Amongst the 145 confirmed cases reported from 25 March to 31 March, 52 cases have tested positive for their serology tests, 67 have tested negative, and 26 serology test results are pending.
Case details
a) Cases in the community: 1
There is 1 case in the community today who is currently unlinked.
Case 61369 is a 22 year-old male Singapore Permanent Resident who is studying in the UK.
He had returned to Singapore from the UK on 11 January, and served SHN at a dedicated facility until 25 January, and an additional 7-day self-isolation at his place of residence until 1 February. His tests taken on 24 January during SHN and on 29 January during self-isolation were both negative for COVID-19. He is asymptomatic, and was detected when he took a COVID-19 pre-departure test on 30 March in preparation for his return to the UK. His test result came back positive on the same day, and he was conveyed in an ambulance to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.
His Ct value was very high, which is indicative of a low viral load, and his serology test result has come back positive. Another test conducted by Tan Tock Seng Hospital on 31 March was negative for COVID-19 infection. He could be shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA from a past infection which are no longer transmissible and infective to others, but given that we are not able to definitively conclude when he had been infected, we will take all the necessary public health actions as a precautionary measure.
b) Cases residing in dormitories: 0
There are no cases residing in dormitories today.
c) Imported cases: 33
Amongst the 33 imported cases,
1 (Case 61370) is a Singapore Permanent Resident who returned from Myanmar.
1 (Case 61359) is a Dependant's Pass holder who arrived from India.
2 (Cases 61358 and 61365) are Student's Pass holders who arrived from India.
2 (Cases 61366 and 61396) are Work Pass holders who arrived from India and Qatar.
22 are Work Permit holders who arrived from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, of whom 8 (Cases 61367, 61376, 61377, 61380, 61383, 61392, 61394 and 61399) are foreign domestic workers.
2 (Cases 61356 and 61360) are Short-Term Visit Pass holders. Case 61356 arrived from India to visit her family members who are Singapore Permanent Residents, and Case 61360 arrived from Papua New Guinea for a work project in Singapore.
3 (Cases 61361, 61373 and 61374) are Special Pass holders who are sea crew. Case 61361 arrived from the Philippines on a vessel, and had remained onboard until he developed symptoms and was conveyed to a hospital. Cases 61373 and 61374 arrived from Malaysia on a vessel, and were tested onboard without disembarking.
4. Please refer to the Annexes [PDF, 176 KB] and MOH’s daily Situation Report (www.moh.gov.sg/covid-19/situation-report) for details.
5. Epidemiological investigations 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 the close contacts to determine if the cases could have been infected by them.
Update on condition of confirmed cases
6. 11 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 60,149 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.
7. There are currently 37 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. 165 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. 30 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection.
MINISTRY OF HEALTH