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SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 12 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday (December 8), the Ministry of Health (MINSA) said.
All new cases were imported and given a stay-at-home notice upon arrival in Singapore.
A 17-year-old Singaporean who returned from the UK and two Singaporean permanent residents who returned from India and Indonesia were among 12 imported cases on Tuesday, the Health Ministry said.
Eight other cases were work permit holders who are currently employed in Singapore. They came from Indonesia and Myanmar.
The remaining case was a short-term visitor pass holder that arrived from Qatar. The 37-year-old was already receiving medical care in Singapore and had returned for further treatment.
All cases were tested while serving their stay-at-home notice.
Epidemiological investigations are ongoing. Meanwhile, all identified close contacts of the cases have been isolated and quarantined, and will be assessed at the beginning and end of their quarantine period so that asymptomatic cases can be detected.
Serological tests will also be performed on close contacts to determine whether the cases could have been infected by them, the Health Ministry said.
No new cases were found in the community or in the dormitories of foreign workers. This is the third day in a row without locally transmitted infections.
EIGHT MORE DOWNLOADED CASES
Eight more cases of COVID-19 have been discharged, bringing the total number of people who have fully recovered from the infection and been discharged to 58,176.
Twenty-three cases remain in the hospital. Most are stable or improving, and none are in the intensive care unit.
There are 57 cases that are being isolated or treated in community facilities. These are those with mild symptoms or who are clinically fine but still test positive for the virus.
WHO AGAINST MANDATORY COVID-19 VACCINES
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday that persuading people of the merits of a COVID-19 vaccine would be far more effective than trying to make jabs mandatory.
It is up to each country how they want to carry out their vaccination campaigns against the pandemic, the WHO said.
READ: WHO against mandatory COVID-19 vaccines
While there may be certain hospital professions where vaccination may be necessary or highly recommended for staff and patient safety, making it mandatory to get vaccinated against the disease would be the wrong way to go, the agency said.
However, WHO experts admitted that there is a battle to be waged to convince the general public to apply the vaccines as they become available.
READ: Canada will receive the first doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine earlier than expected
Canada also announced Monday that it will begin receiving its first doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine before the end of December, earlier than expected.
Officials initially expected to receive a total of six million doses of vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna by the end of March.
As of Tuesday, Singapore has reported a total of 58,285 COVID-19 cases.
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