SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Friday (March 20) announced 40 more cases of Covid-19, of which 30 were imported.

Among the 30, a majority of them came back from the United Kingdom, which has a total of more than 3,000 confirmed cases and almost 150 deaths as of Thursday.

Twenty-two of the 30 imported cases are Singapore citizens and permanent residents. The other seven are long-term pass holders, while one is here on a short-term visit.

Associate Professor Kenneth Mak, director of medical services at the Ministry of Health (MOH), said during a press briefing on Friday: “The majority of new cases are imported cases and they are arising in returning Singapore residents."

For those not identified as imported cases, seven are linked to previous infections while three other cases have no links found yet.

In total, there are now 385 confirmed Covid-19 infections in the country, MOH said in its statement on Friday.

Of these, 131 cases have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospital, including seven that were discharged on Friday.

There are still 254 people who are hospitalised and most of them are in stable condition or improving.

Sixteen cases are in critical condition under intensive care.

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong, who is the co-chair of the governmental Covid-19 taskforce, said at Friday's briefing that for the locally transmitted cases, many had likely occurred during events and social gatherings, or while interacting with colleagues at workplaces. 

Hence, the Government has introduced measures to suspend large gatherings involving 250 people or more, and to extend the suspension of senior-centric activities.

National Development Minister Lawrence Wong, the other co-chair of the taskforce, said: “We want to see fewer people out and about. We would like to see a reduction in social gatherings or any activity involving close contact that can result in transmission of the virus.”

LINKS BETWEEN CASES

Further epidemiological investigations and contact tracing have uncovered links between previously announced and new cases. This was made possible with the assistance of the Singapore Police Force, MOH said in its statement.

• Eight of the locally transmitted confirmed cases (Cases 31, 33, 38, 83, 90, 91, 138 and 151), as well as Cases 8 and 9, are linked to The Life Church and Missions Singapore. These cases are linked to another 23 confirmed cases (Cases 48, 49, 51, 53, 54, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 63, 66, 67, 68, 70, 71, 73, 74, 78, 80, 81, 84, 88) who are linked to the Grace Assembly of God.

• Fourteen of the confirmed cases (Cases 93, 95, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 108 and 110) are linked to Wizlearn Technologies.

• Forty-seven of the confirmed cases (Cases 94, 96, 107, 112, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 120, 121, 122, 125, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 133, 134, 137, 139, 140, 142, 144, 145, 146, 148, 149, 150, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 164, 166, 174, 179, 185, 186, 196, 201, 218 and 224) are linked to a private dinner function at Safra Jurong on Feb 15. Two (Cases 142 and 144) are linked to Boulder+ Gym and Church of Singapore (Bukit Timah)

  • Five of the confirmed cases (Cases 142, 162, 163, 305 and 345) are linked to Boulder+ Gym at Aperia Mall (12 Kallang Avenue).

  • Five of the confirmed cases (Cases 144, 208, 214, 235 and 283) are linked to the Church of Singapore (Bukit Timah) near Upper Bukit Timah Road (2B Hindhede Road).

• Three of the confirmed cases (Cases 183, 252 and 310) are linked to Masjid Al-Muttaqin (5140 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6).

Investigations on these clusters are ongoing.

MOH added that contact tracing is underway for 24 locally transmitted cases to establish any links to previous cases or travel history to affected countries or regions.