Singapore reports 4 new COVID-19 cases, all imported

SINGAPORE: Singapore reported four new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday (Oct 13), all of which were imported infections, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

The imported cases were placed on stay-home notices upon arrival in Singapore.

No new community cases were reported. There were also no new infections in dormitories for the first time since Mar 25, said MOH.

Timeline: No new COVID-19 case in Singapore's dormitories for the first time in more than 6 months

This brings the total number of COVID-19 infections in Singapore to 57,884.

SINGAPORE PERMANENT RESIDENT AMONG IMPORTED CASES

Of the four new COVID-19 cases, one is a 41-year-old permanent resident who returned to Singapore from India.

Another case is a 63-year-old UK national; she is a short-term visit pass holder who was allowed entry into Singapore to visit a family member who is hospitalised here, said the ministry.

The others are: A training employment pass holder who arrived from India; and a 27-year-old French national who arrived from France on a student's pass.

All four cases were placed on 14-day stay-home notice upon arrival in Singapore and were tested while serving their stay-home notices.

The training employment pass holder, a 31-year-old Indian man, had served his stay-home notice at a dedicated facility upon his arrival in Singapore on Sep 25. He was tested on Oct 5 while serving his stay-home notice and his test result came back negative on the same day.

The man completed his stay-home notice on Oct 9 and developed symptoms on the same day, said MOH.

He later tested positive for COVID-19 on Oct 12 when he took a pre-departure test in order to return to India.

Between Oct 9 and Oct 12, the man had mostly remained at Dream Lodge Singapore at 172 Tyrwhitt Road but visited the National University Health System tower block on Oct 9.

The other three cases were asymptomatic.

Epidemiological investigations into the cases are in progress, said MOH. All the identified close contacts of the cases have also been isolated and placed on quarantine, and will be tested at the start and end of their quarantine period.

"We will also conduct serological tests for the close contacts to determine if the cases could have been infected by them," said the ministry.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has decreased from an average of two cases per day in the week before, to an average of fewer than one per day in the past week.

The number of unlinked cases in the community has also decreased from an average of fewer than one case per day in the week before, to none in the past week.

"We will continue to closely monitor these numbers, as well as the cases detected through our surveillance programme," said MOH.

All new cases reported on Tuesday are imported or linked to known cases or clusters

CLUSTER AT MANDAI LODGE I CLOSED

There have been no more cases linked to the cluster at Mandai Lodge I at 460 Mandai Road for the past two incubation periods (28 days) said MOH, adding that the cluster has now been closed.

Twelve more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities.

In all, 57,740 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.

There are currently 35 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, said MOH. Of these, most are stable or improving, and none is in the intensive care unit.

Eighty-one cases are isolated and cared for at community facilities. These are cases who have mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19.

Twenty-eight have died from complications due to COVID-19 infection.

28TH COVID-19 DEATH

On Monday, a 64-year-old man became Singapore's 28th COVID-19 fatality after he died from complications due to COVID-19 infection.

The man, a Singapore permanent resident, is the country's first reported COVID-19 death in nearly three months. 

READ: Fast lane, green lane, air travel pass: What you need to know about Singapore's COVID-19 travel measures

MOH announced on Monday that all travellers with travel history to Sabah in the past two weeks will be required to serve a 14-day stay-home notice at dedicated facilities.

The requirement applies to all travellers entering Singapore from 11.59pm on Wednesday. This follows a recent increase in COVID-19 cases in Sabah. 

READ: Stricter COVID-19 requirements for travellers from Sabah, Indonesia and Philippines; rules for Hong Kong eased

From 11.59pm on Oct 19, travellers who are not Singapore citizens or permanent residents and who have recent travel history to Indonesia or the Philippines in the past 14 days will be required to take a COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test within 72 hours before departure, MOH said.

Travellers will need to present a valid negative COVID-19 test result as a condition of approval to enter or transfer through Singapore.

The ministry also announced that from 11.59pm on Wednesday, travellers from Hong Kong will be allowed to serve a reduced seven-day stay-home notice at their place of residence.

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