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SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 14 new COVID-19 cases on Friday (February 19), all of which were imported and had been placed on stay-at-home notice or isolated upon arrival, the Ministry of Health (MINSA) said.
The new cases include a permanent resident who returned from Indonesia, as well as three dependent pass holders who arrived from India and Indonesia.
Four other cases are work pass holders from India, Nepal and the United Arab Emirates.
The new cases also include three work permit holders who arrived from Indonesia and Malaysia, including a foreign domestic worker.
READ: Singapore opens Connect @ Changi facility, allowing business visitors to gather without serving quarantine
The remaining three cases are special pass holders who are seafarers and arrived from Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates. They did not disembark from their ships and were tested on board.
JOB PASS HOLDER TESTED NEGATIVE TWICE DURING QUARANTINE
The imported cases on Friday include a work pass holder, identified as Case 60316, who tested negative twice for COVID-19 while in quarantine after being identified as a close contact from another case.
The man arrived from India on December 30 last year and was put on notice to stay home in a dedicated facility until January 3 of this year, when he was identified as a close contact in Case 58994.
The 48-year-old man was later quarantined from January 3-13.
His swabs made on January 4 and 10 during the quarantine tested negative for COVID-19.
“He is asymptomatic and was detected when he took a COVID-19 test prior to departure on February 17 in preparation for his return to India,” the Health Ministry said.
The man’s test result was positive for COVID-19 on February 18, although the Ct value was very high, indicating a low viral load. Another sample was taken on February 18, which tested negative for COVID-19.
The man’s serological test result is positive.
“Since these indicate a probable past infection, we have classified the case as imported,” said the Ministry of Health. “It is likely that it is removing tiny bits of RNA from the virus, which are no longer communicable or infectious to others.”
No cases of local transmission were reported in the community or in the dormitories of foreign workers.
Beginning February 5, newcomer S Pass and work permit holders in the construction, marine and process industries, as well as foreign domestic workers and confinement nannies with recent travel history to Higher risk locations should undergo serological testing upon arrival. This is in addition to the polymerase chain reaction tests.
Of the new cases, 13 did not have to undergo mandatory serological tests on arrival, the Health Ministry said.
“The remaining case tested positive on arrival, but as we cannot definitively conclude that it was no longer infectious when it arrived in Singapore, we will take all necessary public health actions as a precautionary measure,” he said. MEDICAL OFFICER.
Eighteen more cases discharged
The ministry also said that 18 more cases of COVID-19 have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities, bringing Singapore’s total number of recoveries to 59,697.
There are 20 COVID-19 patients still in the hospital, most of whom are stable or improving. A person is in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
Another 100 cases are isolated and treated in community facilities. These are people who have mild symptoms or are clinically well, but still test positive for COVID-19.
The Health Ministry released more details of its COVID-19 vaccination program for seniors on Friday, saying that people aged 70 and over will receive their vaccination letters within the next three weeks.
Next in line for vaccination will be seniors ages 60 to 69, who will receive their invitation letters in mid-March. Your vaccination will begin around the end of March.
READ: People age 70 and over will receive COVID-19 vaccination letters within the next 3 weeks: MOH
Singapore began its COVID-19 vaccination exercise on December 30, and health workers from the National Center for Infectious Diseases were the first to receive the vaccines.
As of Thursday, some 250,000 people in Singapore have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, the Health Ministry said. Of those, 110,000 received the second dose and completed the full vaccination regimen, he said.
In early April, Singapore hopes to distribute the first dose of vaccines to another million people, said COVID-19 ministerial task force co-chair Lawrence Wong during a visit to a vaccination center at the Jalan Besar Community Center on Friday.
This will bring the total number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 in Singapore to approximately 1.25 million people.
The general public will be able to get vaccinated “probably sometime after April,” said Health Minister Gan Kim Yong, who was also at the vaccination center.
READ: Tighter COVID-19 measures will remain for a few weeks after the Chinese New Year holidays: Lawrence Wong
Wong also said that the stricter COVID-19 measures that were introduced before the Chinese New Year will remain in effect for a few weeks after the holidays end.
The measures, which include a limit of eight visitors per household per day, have been in effect since January 26 after an increase in the number of community cases.
“So we will monitor one, two, a few weeks after the New Years celebrations and the holidays are over,” Woing said. “And if the situation remains stable, under control, then we will review and consider the measures again and see if there is room for us to adjust.”
As of Friday, Singapore has reported a total of 59,846 COVID-19 cases.
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