SINGAPORE – The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Tuesday (April 20) confirmed 14 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore, including one new case of locally transmitted infection, which takes the country’s total number of cases to 60,865.
The local case is in a residence, while the remaining 13 cases are imported. “Among the new cases today, ten are asymptomatic and were detected by our proactive investigation and surveillance, while four were symptomatic,” the MOH said.
The only local case is a 35-year-old man from Bangladesh who arrived in Singapore in July 2019 and lives in the Westlite Woodlands Dormitory.
The work permit holder is employed by Prosper Environmental & Engineering as construction manager and works at Sembcorp Marine Admiralty Yard.
The MOH said the man got a runny nose on April 16 but did not report his symptom. On the same day, he was tested for COVID-19 as part of the grid routine.
“His composite test result came positive for COVID-19 on April 18, and he was immediately isolated and transferred in an ambulance to the National Center for Infectious Diseases. An individual test was done on April 18 and his test result returned positive for. COVID-19 infection the next day, “the MOH said.
The man’s earlier tests from the grid routine – the last on April 9 – were negative for COVID-19. His serological test result came back positive, but it is likely a current infection, the MOH added.
The ministry said the man received his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on March 12 and the second dose on April 13.
They probably offset his positive serological test result as he produced antibodies after vaccination, the MOH added.
“Since it usually takes a few weeks before an individual builds up immunity after completing the vaccination, he is probably infected before he gets protection after vaccination,” he said.
Epidemiological investigations are underway while all identified close contacts of the case, including his dormitory 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 done for close contact to determine if he may have been infected.
The MOH noted that the number of new cases in the community has increased from two in the previous week to nine in the past week. The number of unrelated cases in the community also increased from two in the previous week to four in the past week.
13 imported cabinets, including a Singapore
Among the 13 cases imported are one Singapore, and two permanent residents who have returned from India and the Philippines.
Another is a 34-year-old Indian man, a dependent passport holder, who arrived from Sri Lanka, which is Tuesday’s fourth symptomatic case.
Four others are work permit holders who arrived from India and Malaysia. Two of them, a 31-year-old woman and a 56-year-old man, count among Tuesday’s four symptomatic cases.
Another four are work permit holders who arrived from Bangladesh, India and Myanmar, one of whom is a foreign domestic worker.
The remaining case is a short-term visitor who arrived from India to visit her family member, a Singapore.
All imported cabinets were placed on the home page notice upon arrival here and were tested while serving their notice.
Separately, the MOH confirmed that an imported case that arrived from India earlier this month was likely to be re-infected when he was in his homeland and was contagious when he returned here.
The 43-year-old Indian then infected his sister-in-law and her husband, both permanent residents here.
This comes when the ministry announced earlier on Tuesday a series of revised border measures, including stricter measures for travelers arriving from India, which take effect on Thursday from 23.59 hours.
The US warned on the same day against travel to India, where authorities have imposed stricter restrictions there.
99% of total cases recovered, 1 in ICU
With another 37 patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Tuesday, 60,540 cases – or 99.5 percent of the total – fully recovered from the infection.
Most of the 74 cases admitted to the hospital are stable or improving, while one of them is in the intensive care unit.
A total of 221 patients – with mild symptoms or clinically good, yet positive test – are isolated and cared for in community facilities.
Apart from the 30 patients who died from COVID-19 complications, 15 others who tested positive for the virus were determined to die from unrelated causes, including three whose deaths were attributed to a heart attack and four more , of which death was attributed to coronary heart disease.
Among the 173 confirmed cases reported from 14 to 20 April, 66 cases tested positive for their serological tests, 89 tested negative and 18 serology test results are pending.
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