305 more cases discharged, 261 new cases of COVID-19 infection confirmed

          As of 5 June 2020, 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified an additional 261 cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore. The lower number of cases today is partly due to fewer swabs being conducted. The breakdown is as follows:

a)            Imported cases: 0

There are no imported cases today.

b)            Cases in the community: 11 (6 Singaporeans/Permanent Residents, 5 Work Permit holders)

Of the 11 cases in the community, 8 are asymptomatic, but we had swabbed them as part of our proactive surveillance or to verify their status during quarantine.

Amongst the 6 Singaporeans/Permanent Residents, 5 are linked to previously confirmed cases, and had already been placed on quarantine. 1 is a Permanent Resident who stays at Cassia @ Penjuru dormitory, and was proactively tested as part of our efforts to clear the dormitories. 

Amongst the 5 Work Permit holders, 4 had been picked up as a result of our proactive screening. Of these, 3 were tested before they are due to start work in essential services, and 1 was tested as part of our screening of migrant workers residing at shophouses located at Balestier Road, due to their proximity to another cluster in the same area. Epidemiological investigations are ongoing for the remaining case.

Besides the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, we also conducted serological tests to determine if some of these cases are current or past infections. ^[1] The serological test results of 3 cases (Cases 36970, 36971 and 36973) have come back positive, which indicate likely past infections. Results are pending for the rest.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased, from an average of 5 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 6 per day in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has remained stable at an average of 2 per day in the past two weeks. We will continue to closely monitor these numbers, as well as the cases detected through our surveillance programme.

c)            Cases residing in dormitories: 250

We continue to pick up many 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 has been monitoring existing clusters for any further transmission. As there have been no more cases linked to Acacia Home (30 Admiralty Street) 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 (29 May to 4 June), 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.            305 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 24,209 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.

8.            There are currently 307 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and 4 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit. 12,643 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. 24 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH
5 JUNE 2020

^[1] Cases whose serological tests are positive are likely have a past infection, and could be shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA picked by the PCR test, which were no longer transmissible and infective to others.