4 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore, lowest number since March 4

SINGAPORE — Singapore reported four new cases of Covid-19 on Monday (Oct 12), the lowest number since March 4 when there were two cases.

In its evening update to the coronavirus situation, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said that there were two locally transmitted cases — one in the community and the other residing in a dormitory. 

There were also two imported cases.

MOH said that all of the fresh cases have no symptoms, and are imported or linked to known cases or clusters.

The community case is a family member of two previously confirmed cases, who tested positive on Sept 27 and Oct 1. They had been placed on quarantine earlier. 

All three family members arrived from India on Sept 16 and were placed on stay-home notices at a dedicated facility. 

The one case residing in a dormitory was identified earlier as a contact of previous cases and had already been quarantined to prevent further transmission.

Of the two imported cases, both had been placed on stay-home notices upon arrival in Singapore.

One of them is a Singapore permanent resident who returned from the Philippines, while the other is a work pass holder who is employed here and arrived from India and the United Arab Emirates.

They had both been placed on 14-day stay-home notices and were tested positive while serving their notices.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has gone down from an average of one case a day in the week before, to an average of fewer than one a day in the past week, MOH said.

The number of cases in the community with no known links to previous cases has also gone down from an average of fewer than one case a day in the week before, to none in the past week.

UPDATES ON REMAINING CASES

The total number of infections in Singapore now stands at 57,880.

Of these, 57,728 people have fully recovered and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities, including 23 on Monday.

There are still 48 patients in hospitals and most are in stable condition or improving, and none is in intensive care.

Another 76 patients are isolated and being cared for at community facilities. They have mild symptoms or are clinically well but still tested positive for Covid-19.

On Monday, a 64-year-old Singapore permanent resident became the 28th person here to die from complications due to Covid-19, the first such death in the country in almost three months. 

The man — identified as Case 57,960 — died eight days after he was diagnosed with the coronavirus on Oct 4. 

MOH said that the man had a history of hypertension.

He had been working in India since December last year and was placed on stay-home notice when he returned to Singapore on Sept 23.