45 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore, including 1 in the community; highest daily tally in 4 months

SINGAPORE — Singapore reported 45 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday (Jan 14), one of which one was in the community.

The community case, a 32 year-old Singaporean man, has no links to reported cases, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said.

He works as a para-veterinarian at the Singapore Police Force located at 2 Mowbray Road in Yew Tee.

“His job mainly involves teleconsultations with dog handlers,” MOH said.

The man developed a fever on Jan 11 and sought treatment at a general practitioner clinic on the same day, where he was tested for Covid-19 as part of enhanced community testing for those aged 13 and above diagnosed with acute respiratory infection.

He had remained at home on medical leave until his result came back positive for Covid-19 on Jan 13 and he was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

MOH added that his serological test result came back negative, indicating that this is likely a current infection.

As for the 44 imported cases, the individuals had already been placed on stay-home notice or isolated upon arrival in Singapore.

They are:

• Three Singaporeans who returned from the Philippines, Qatar and United Kingdom. They are aged seven, 53 and 65 and all male

• Three dependant’s pass holders who arrived from Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

• Two student’s pass holders who arrived from Myanmar and Pakistan

• Three work pass holders who came from India and the UAE

• Twenty-nine work permit holders who arrived from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines, of whom 14 are foreign domestic workers

• Four short-term visit pass holders from Brazil, India and Indonesia

MOH said that one of the 29 work permit holders, an Indonesian man aged 39, is linked to the NewOcean 6 bunker cluster and was placed on quarantine on Dec 31.

He was tested during quarantine and confirmed to have Covid-19 on Jan 13, taking the number of cases in the NewOcean 6 cluster to 13. 

The ministry said that 41 of the new cases showed no symptoms while four did.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has dropped from nine cases in the week before to three cases in the past week.

The number of unlinked cases in the community has also fallen from six cases in the week before to one case in the past week.

UPDATES ON REMAINING CASES

The total number of infections in Singapore is now 59,029.

Of these, 58,757 people have fully recovered and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities, including 35 on Wednesday.

There are still 41 patients in hospitals and most are in stable condition or improving, with none in intensive care.

Another 202 patients are isolated at community facilities. They have mild symptoms or are clinically well but still tested positive for Covid-19.

Twenty-nine people have died from complications due to the disease.