COVID-19: Singapore confirms 13 new cases, 12 of them imported
SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed 13 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore as of noon on Saturday (5 December), taking the country’s total to 58,255.
There is one new case of locally-transmitted infection.
“Based on our investigations so far, the case is in the community and had already been placed on quarantine earlier. There are no new cases in the dormitories,” said the ministry.
Case 58461 is a Filipino sea crew who arrived from the Philippines on the Normand Australis, which docked at Tuas Port 2 on 18 November. He had earlier been identified as a close contact of Case 58357, and was already placed on quarantine at a government quarantine facility since 22 November. Prior to that, he had not disembarked from the ship.
Before boarding the ship, Case 58461 had undergone a COVID-19 pre-departure test on 2 November which came back negative, the MOH said. Upon the ship’s arrival in Singapore, all 18 crew members had been swabbed on 19 November, and all of them tested negative except for Case 58357. As a precautionary measure, the crew members were placed on quarantine, and Case 58461 was moved to a government quarantine facility to serve his quarantine. He is asymptomatic, and was swabbed during quarantine to verify his status. His serological test has come back positive.
In addition, there are 12 imported cases – 11 had already been placed on Stay-Home Notice (SHN) or isolated upon arrival in Singapore.
Among the 12 imported cases, two (Cases 58459 and 58465) are Singaporeans who returned from the US and Indonesia, and four (Cases 58460, 58462, 58469 and 58470) are Singapore permanent residents who returned from the US, India and Indonesia.
Another four (Cases 58464, 58467, 58471 and 58472) are work permit holders currently employed in Singapore who arrived from Indonesia and the Philippines. The remaining cases are a dependant’s pass holder (Case 58466) who arrived from Nepal and a short-term visit pass holder (Case 58463) who arrived from Indonesia to visit her relatives who are Singaporeans.
Case 58465 is a Singaporean who had travelled to Indonesia under the Business Travel Pass. He had undergone a COVID-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test upon return to Singapore on 28 November, and self-isolated while waiting for his test result. His test came back negative but he developed symptoms on 2 December, and was tested for COVID-19 when he sought medical treatment at a general practitioner’s clinic. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 4 December, and is currently isolated at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.
Prior to hospitalisation, he had gone to work at ASL Shipyard Pte Ltd (19 Pandan Road), but had not interacted with his colleagues. His serological test has come back negative, which indicates likely current infection.
Overall, the number of new cases in the community has remained low, the ministry said, with a total of four cases in the past week, of whom three are currently unlinked.
99% of total cases have recovered; none in ICU
With six more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Saturday, 58,158 cases – or 99.8 per cent of the total – have fully recovered from the infection.
Most of the 26 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, and none are in the intensive care unit.
A total of 42 patients – with mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive – are isolated and cared for at community facilities.
Apart from 29 patients who have died from COVID-19 complications, 15 others who tested positive for the virus were determined to have died from unrelated causes, including three whose deaths were attributed to a heart attack and another four, whose deaths were attributed to coronary heart disease.
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