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SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 44 new cases of COVID-19 as of noon on Monday (January 25), and all were imported infections, the Ministry of Health (MINSA) said.
Forty of these cases were asymptomatic and include a Singaporean who returned and tested negative during the stay-at-home notice, but tested positive for COVID-19 on a pre-departure test.
All cases were placed on a stay-at-home notice upon arrival, the ministry said.
No cases of local transmission were reported in the community or in the dormitories of foreign workers.
IMPORTED CASES
Among the imported cases, four are Singaporean and two are permanent residents who returned from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Seven are dependent pass holders who came from India, Russia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
One is a holder of a long-term visit pass that came from the US.
Three cases are holders of student passes who came from France, Indonesia and Kazakhstan.
There were also six work pass holders who came from Bangladesh, India, Japan, Poland and Spain.
Seventeen are work permit holders who came from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and Malaysia, of which three are foreign domestic workers.
The remaining four are short-term visiting pass holders who came from India to visit relatives who are Singaporean or permanent residents.
POSITIVE CASE DURING PRE-DEPARTURE TEST
One of the returned Singaporeans, Case 59629, is a 19-year-old who returned from the UK on December 6 and delivered her stay-at-home notice at a dedicated facility until December 20.
A swab test was performed on December 16 for which it came back negative for COVID-19, the Health Ministry said.
On January 23, he tested positive for COVID-19 when he underwent a pre-departure test in preparation for his return to the UK.
“His Ct value was very high, indicating a low viral load, and his serological test result was also positive,” the ministry said.
“Since these indicate a probable past infection, we have classified the case as imported based on its travel history.”
COMMUNITY CASES
Overall, the number of new cases in the community has risen from 10 cases in the previous week to 13 cases in the last week, the Health Ministry said.
The number of unrelated cases in the community has decreased from four cases in the previous week to three cases in the last week.
Of the 225 confirmed cases reported between January 19 and 25, 123 cases tested positive in their serological tests, 34 tested negative and 68 serological test results are pending, the ministry added.
25 DOWNLOADED CASES
Twenty-five more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In total, 59,066 have fully recovered from the infection, the Health Ministry said.
There are currently 59 confirmed cases that are still in the hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and no one is in the intensive care unit.
The number of isolated cases treated in community facilities is 198. These are those who have mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19.
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Stronger safe driving measures will be implemented starting Tuesday given the recent increase in community cases of COVID-19 and the potential risk of transmission during the upcoming Chinese New Year period.
Starting Tuesday, homes will only be able to receive a maximum of eight visitors per day, authorities announced at a press conference of the multi-ministerial COVID-19 task force last week.
People should also limit themselves to visiting no more than two homes per day as much as possible.
Currently, up to eight visitors are allowed in each home at a time, with no limit to the number of homes they can visit.
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Singapore “should prepare us psychologically to celebrate CNY (Chinese New Year) differently this year,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Saturday.
“Just look at countries near and far experiencing repeated case surges, and you will see why we need to be vigilant,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
As of Monday, Singapore has reported 59,352 COVID-19 cases and 29 deaths from the disease.
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