256 More Cases Discharged, 322 New Cases of COVID-19 Infection Confirmed

               As of 13 July 2020, 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified an additional 322 cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore. The higher number of cases today is mainly due to fewer tests being conducted by the COVID-19 testing laboratories over the public holiday and weekend on 10 July and 11 July, with the backlog of samples being cleared from 12 July. The number of cases reported for 9 July and before were not affected. The breakdown of the cases today is as follows:

a)    Imported cases: 5 (2 Permanent Residents, 2 Work Pass holders, 1 Dependant’s Pass holder)

Amongst the 5 imported cases, 2 (Cases 46217 and 46258) are Singapore Permanent Residents who returned to Singapore from India on 6 July and from Pakistan on 20 June respectively. Another 2 cases (Cases 46212 and 46214) are Work Pass holders who are currently employed in Singapore. They arrived in Singapore from the Philippines on 30 June. The remaining case (Case 46213) is a Dependant’s Pass holder who returned to Singapore from the USA on 30 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: 11 (2 Singaporeans/ Permanent Residents, 6 Work Pass holders, 3 Work Permit holders)

4 of the community cases today are linked to previous cases or clusters. Of these, 2 (Cases 46218 and 46291) 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. Another case (Case 46374) was swabbed as he works in essential services. The remaining case (Case 46254) was tested as part of our efforts to screen individuals working in frontline COVID-19 operations.

7 of the community cases are currently unlinked. Of these, 6 (Cases 46248, 46249, 46250, 46251, 46252 and 46253) are asymptomatic, and were identified from our periodic screening of workers in essential services who are living outside the dormitories. The remaining case (Case 46017) was tested for COVID-19 after he sought treatment for symptoms.

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 increased, from an average of 12 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 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: 306

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, 97% are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.

4.             MOH had earlier identified three cases (Cases 42616, 45227 and 45821) who are employees of Mini Environment Service Pte Ltd (120 Lower Delta Road), and had investigated the company for its compliance with safe management and safe distancing measures. As there were non-compliances observed, MOH has directed that the workplace be closed for a period of 14 days, from 13 July to 26 July (inclusive), under Section 19 of the Infectious Diseases Act to prevent further spread at the workplace. The closure will allow the company to review and tighten its safe management measures. Close contacts of the cases had been placed on quarantine earlier, and all its employees will also be placed under health surveillance and tested for COVID-19.

Links between previous cases found

5.             In the past week (6 July to 12 July), MOH has uncovered links for 6 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.             256 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 42,541 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.

8.             There are currently 166 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. 3,550 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.