COVID-19: No Singapore residents among 218 new infections; 2 community cases

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed on Saturday (20 June) 218 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore, bringing the total to 41,833, as well as 765 more recoveries.

There are no Singaporean or permanent residents among the new cases for the second consecutive day.

Of the cases, two male work permit holders are classified as cases in the community: a 34-year-old Bangladeshi and a 46-year-old Indian national.

The remaining 216 cases are foreign workers living in dormitories, said the MOH.

The Bangladeshi man, case 41673, had been identified as a contact of previously confirmed cases and had already been quarantined at a government quarantine facility, the ministry added.

The man had been swabbed during quarantine to verify his status, despite being asymptomatic.

The Indian national, identified as case 41848, had also been asymptomatic and was detected as a result of efforts to screen workers in essential services, the MOH said.

Both men were also classified as local unlinked cases and are part of the two per cent, of the new cases on Saturday, to have non established links.

Both men were subjected to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, or swab tests, as well as serological tests to determine if they had current or past infections.

Their serological test results came back positive, which indicate both men likely had past COVID-19 infections, the MOH said.

The ministry added that the number of new cases in the community has decreased from an average of eight cases per day in the week before, to an average of four per day in the past week.

Similarly, the number of unlinked cases in the community has also decreased from an average of three cases per day in the week before to an average of two per day in the past week.

Dozens of clusters linked to foreign worker dorms have been identified thus far, including Singapore’s largest cluster of 2,770 cases linked to S11 Dormitory@Punggol, followed by Sungei Tengah Lodge with 2,044 cases, Jurong Penjuru Dormitory with 1,776 cases, Cassia @ Penjuru with 1,468 cases, and Tuas View Dormitory with 1,407 cases.

These dorms, the top five clusters with the highest number of cases here, account for some 24 per cent of the total 39,439 infected workers living in dorms. Some 400,000 such workers live in dorms here.

(For more information on the clusters, read here.)

Some 82% of total cases recovered

With 765 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Saturday, 34,224 cases – or some 82 per cent of the total tally – have fully recovered from the infection.

Most of the 185 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, while one is in critical condition in the intensive care unit, down from two on Friday.

A total of 7,398 patients with mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive are isolated and cared for at community facilities.

Apart from 26 patients who have died from COVID-19 complications, 10 others who tested positive for the virus have died from unrelated causes, including three whose deaths were attributed to a heart attack and another three, including the 44-year-old male Indian national who died on 8 June, whose deaths were attributed to coronary heart disease.

“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,” said the MOH in previous press releases, adding that the method of assessment is consistent with international practices for classifying deaths.

As of 15 June, the ministry has conducted 576,189 swab tests, of which 340,894 were done on unique individuals. This translates to around 101,100 swabs conducted per 1 million total population, and about 59,800 unique individuals swabbed per 1 million total population.

Singapore has entered Phase 2 of its reopening – with various safe distancing measures still in place – on Friday. This phase is expected to last up to six months or longer, according to authorities.

With more returning to workplaces, the MOH said on Thursday that it will extend testing to all individuals aged 45 and above who are diagnosed with acute respiratory infection from later next week. It will be progressively be extended to more groups, it added.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

More Singapore stories:

COVID-19: Latest infected inmate not linked to previous cases at Changi Prison

COVID-19: Screening of dormitory wastewater effective, more testing to be done

Singapore Pools to resume lottery draws, open retail outlets from 22 June

Congregation activities can resume with 50-person limit at places of worship from 26 June