SINGAPORE – The Ministry of Health (MoH) confirmed on Tuesday (April 20th) 14 new cases of COVID-19, including a new case of locally transmitted infection, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 60,865.
The local case is in a home, while the remaining 13 cases are imported. “Of today’s new cases, 10 are asymptomatic and have been detected by our proactive screening and surveillance, while four have been symptomatic,” MS said.
The only local case is a 35-year-old Bangladeshi man who arrived in Singapore in July 2019 and lives in Westlite Woodlands Dormitory.
The work permit holder is employed by Prosper Environmental & Engineering as a construction supervisor and works at Sembcorp Marine Admiralty Yard.
The Ministry of Health said the man developed a runny nose on April 16, but did not report his symptoms. On the same day, it was tested for COVID-19 as part of the listed routine testing regimen.
“The result of his joint test was positive for COVID-19 on April 18 and he was immediately isolated and sent to the National Center for Infectious Diseases in an ambulance. An individual test was performed on April 18, and the result of his test was positive. for COVID-19 infection the next day, “said MS.
The man’s previous tests in the listed routine tests – the last being on April 9 – were negative for COVID-19. The result of the serological test returned positive, but it is probably a current infection, added MS.
The ministry said the man received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on March 12 and the second dose on April 13.
“Probably” they explained the result of the positive serological test, because it produced antibodies after vaccination, added MOH.
“However, as it usually takes a few weeks for a person to gain immunity after vaccination, he or she would probably have been infected before being given protection after vaccination,” it said.
Epidemiological investigations are ongoing, while all identified close contacts of the case, including its homes and workplace contacts, have been isolated and quarantined and will be tested at the beginning and end of their quarantine period. Serological tests will also be performed for close contacts to determine if they may have been infected.
The MoH noted that the number of new cases in the community had increased from two in the previous week to nine last week. The number of unconnected cases in the community also increased from two in the previous week to four last week.
13 cases imported, including one from Singapore
Of the 13 imported cases, one is a Singapore and two are permanent residents who have returned from India and the Philippines.
Another is a 34-year-old Indian citizen holding a maintenance permit who arrived from Sri Lanka, which is the fourth symptomatic case on Tuesday.
Four others are holders of work passes that have arrived from India and Malaysia. Two of them, a 31-year-old woman and a 56-year-old man, are among the four symptomatic cases on Tuesday.
Four others are holders of work permits who have arrived from Bangladesh, India and Myanmar, one of whom is a foreign domestic worker.
The remaining case is a short-term business permit holder who arrived from India to visit a family member who is from Singapore.
All imported cases were placed on the residence permit upon arrival here and were tested during the notification.
Separately, the MoH confirmed that a previously reported imported case that arrived from India earlier this month “was probably re-infected” when he was in his home country and had been infectious when he returned here.
The 43-year-old Indian citizen then continued to infect his sister-in-law and husband, both permanent residents here.
This comes as the ministry announced earlier on Tuesday a series of revised border measures, including stricter measures for travelers arriving from India, which will take effect from 23.59 on Thursday.
The United States warned on the same day against travel to India, where authorities had imposed stricter restrictions.
99% of all cases recovered, 1 in intensive care
With more than 37 patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Tuesday, 60,540 cases – or 99.5% of the total – have fully recovered from the infection.
Most of the 74 hospitalized cases are stable or improving, while one of them is in the intensive care unit.
A total of 221 patients – with mild symptoms or who are clinically well but still positive – are isolated and cared for at community facilities.
In addition to the 30 patients who died of COVID-19 complications, another 15 who tested positive for the virus were determined to have died of unrelated causes, including three whose deaths were attributed to a heart attack and others. four, whose deaths were attributed to coronary heart disease.
Of the 173 confirmed cases reported between April 14-20, 66 cases tested positive for their serological tests, 89 were negative and 18 results of serological tests are pending.
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