As of 17 April 2020, 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified an additional 623 cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore. The breakdown is as follows:
a) Imported cases: 1
We have one new imported case today who is serving Stay-Home Notice.
b) Cases in the community: 27 (22 Singaporeans/Permanent Residents, 4 work passes, 1 visitor)
It has been 11 days since the circuit breaker was implemented. The number of new cases in the community has decreased, from an average of 40 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 32 per day in the past week [1].
The circuit breaker measures appear to have helped, but we still have to monitor carefully the numbers over the next few days. We are particularly concerned that it is increasingly difficult to link the new cases and identify the source of infection. In fact, the number of unlinked cases in the community has increased slightly, from an average of 19 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 22 per day in the past week. We have an ongoing surveillance programme, where a small sample of patients at our primary care facilities are tested for COVID-19 infections. We have picked up some cases through these tests, which is an indication of undetected cases in the community.
c) Work Permit holders (residing outside dormitories): 37
The number of new cases amongst Work Permit holders residing outside dormitories has increased, from an average of 11 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 19 per day in the past week.
d) Work Permit holders (residing in dormitories): 558
The main increase today continues to be for Work Permit holders residing in dormitories, in line with our continued efforts to actively test and isolate the infected workers. Most of these cases have a mild illness and are being monitored in the community isolation facilities or general ward of our hospitals. The cases are generally mild, and none of them is in the intensive care unit.
2. Details of these trends can be found in MOH’s daily situation Report (www.moh.gov.sg/covid-19/situation-report).
3. Of the new cases, 69% are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.
Links between previous cases found
4. In the past week (10 April to 16 April), MOH has uncovered links for 483 previously unlinked cases (see Annex A ).
5. Further epidemiological investigations and contact tracing have uncovered links between previously announced and new cases. A summary of the confirmed cases are in Annex B.
6. Please refer to the MOH website for the situation report (www.moh.gov.sg/covid-19/situation-report).
Cases from public healthcare sector
Case 5018
7. Case 5018 is a 34 year-old female Malaysian national who had been in Malaysia from 29 January to 8 April. She reported onset of symptoms on 16 April, and subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 17 April. She is currently warded at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.
8. She is employed as a nurse at Bright Vision Hospital but had not gone to work since onset of symptoms as she had been on Stay-Home Notice.
Update on condition of confirmed cases
9. 23 more cases [2] of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 703 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities.
10. Of the 2,113 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving. 22 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit. 2,218 cases who are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19 are isolated and cared for at community facilities. 11 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection.
11. Case 3145, a 95 year-old male Singapore Citizen, has passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection on 17 April 2020. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 13 April. Raffles Hospital has reached out to his family and is extending assistance to them.
MINISTRY OF HEALTH
17 APRIL 2020
[1] Yesterday’s report highlighted 48 community cases, including 22 with pending details on the pass type. But subsequent contact tracing found that these 22 cases were in fact residing in the dormitories. This means that there were only 26 cases in the community yesterday.
[2] Cases 388, 511, 533, 632, 638, 898, 911, 1046, 1060, 1115, 1266, 1352, 1575, 1620, 1712, 1915, 1936, 1990, 2421, 2556, 2558, 2641 and 2727.