Singapore reports 83 new COVID-19 infections; no community cases for the first time since Jun 1

SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 83 new COVID-19 infections as of noon on Friday (Aug 14), including four imported cases, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

This brings the country's total to 55,580, with fatalities remaining at 27. 

There were no cases reported in the community. This is the first time since Jun 1 that Singapore has not had a community case. 

A one-year-old boy was among the four imported cases reported on Friday. He is a dependant's pass holder and had travelled to Singapore from India on Jul 30.

The three other imported cases were also arrivals from India - one is a dependant's pass holder and the remaining two are work pass holders currently employed in Singapore.

All of them had been placed on 14-day stay-home notices upon arrival in Singapore and served their notices at dedicated facilities. They were asymptomatic when tested during their stay-home notices.

MAP: All the places that COVID-19 community cases visited while they were infectious

The remaining 79 COVID-19 cases are individuals residing in foreign worker dormitories.

The testing of workers in the dormitories has been completed, with about 21,300 workers still serving out their quarantine period. 

"These workers will be tested when their quarantine ends, and we expect the case counts to remain high in the coming days, before tapering down thereafter," said MOH.

READ: Singapore may have to consider replacing 2-week COVID-19 isolation with 'rigorous testing regime' for travellers: Ong Ye Kung

On Friday, MOH also reported that six more dormitories with COVID-19 clusters had been cleared and are now closed.

They are: Acacia Lodge at 530-540 Bukit Batok Street 23, Westlite Toh Guan dormitory at 18 Toh Guan Road East, North Coast Lodge at 51 North Coast Avenue, 16 Fan Yoong Road, 11 Tech Park Crescent and 17 Soon Lee Road.

"Overall, the number of new cases in the community has remained stable at an average of two cases per day in the past two weeks," the ministry said. 

"The number of unlinked cases in the community has also remained stable at an average of one case per day in the past two weeks."

READ: How the COVID-19 circuit breaker and safe distancing stopped other infectious diseases in their tracks

Since May 20, the daily community cases count has included infections among work permit holders living outside dormitories.

They were previously listed under a separate category in MOH's daily update.

A total of 313 more COVID-19 patients have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities, MOH said. 

In all, 51,049 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.

There are currently 79 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. 

Of these, most are stable or improving, and none is in the intensive care unit. A total of 4,425 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," the ministry said.

READ: Singapore may have to consider replacing 2-week COVID-19 isolation with 'rigorous testing regime' for travellers: Ong Ye Kung

SINGAPORE'S EFFORTS TO REVIVE AIR HUB

Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said earlier on Friday that Singapore may have to consider replacing the two-week isolation period for arriving travellers with a "rigorous testing regime", as part of efforts to "revive" the country's air hub​​​​​​​.

The decline in international air travel due to the ongoing pandemic has seen Singapore drop from its position as the 7th busiest airport in the world in terms of international passenger traffic.

It is now in 50th place, with just 150 aircraft movements per day, compared to more than 1,000 a day previously. 

"We have tried to bring back demand in various ways. Cargo planes are still using Changi, but they are only about 5 per cent of total flights pre-COVID-19," said Mr Ong.

"Our challenge is to restore passenger volume, while keeping virus transmission under control."

In June, the Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group recorded a 99.3 per cent year-on-year decline in passenger carriage.

A month later, Singapore Airlines reported a S$1.12 billion net loss in the first quarter after drastically cutting capacity due to travel restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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