SINGAPORE – The sole community case confirmed on Saturday (April 10) is a 71-year-old female Indian national on a short-term visit pass.
In all, there were 32 new Covid-19 cases, taking Singapore’s total to 60,633.
The other 31 were imported cases who had been placed on stay-home notice (SHN) on arrival here, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).
The sole community case, Case 61768, arrived from India on Dec 28 and served her SHN at a dedicated facility until Jan 10.
Her test taken on Jan 8 during her SHN was negative for the coronavirus.
As she had been identified as a close contact of Cases 59169 and 59173 during their flight to Singapore, she was placed on quarantine from Jan 10 to 11.
The retiree developed a fever last Monday (April 5) and was tested for Covid-19 when she sought medical treatment the next day.
Her test result came back positive last Thursday (April 8), and she was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.
Another test conducted by the National Public Health Laboratory on Friday was negative for Covid-19 infection.
However, her serological test result has returned positive, which is indicative of a past infection.
MOH said: “She could be shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA, which are no longer transmissible and infective to others, but given that we are not able to definitively conclude when she had been infected, we will take all the necessary public health actions as a precautionary measure.”
The case is currently unlinked.
Of the 31 new imported cases, there is one Singaporean who returned from Papua New Guinea, while two are dependant’s pass holders who arrived from India.
Three are long-term visit pass holders who arrived from India and Myanmar, while five are student’s pass holders who arrived from India.
Three are work pass holders who arrived from Nepal, the Maldives and the Philippines, while 15 are work permit holders who had travelled from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines.
Two are short-term visit pass holders from India and Malaysia.
There were no new cases from the migrant workers’ dormitories, said MOH.
Overall, the number of new cases in the community has remained stable at an average of two a week in the past fortnight.
The number of unlinked cases in the community has also remained stable at two a week in the same period.
Among the 165 confirmed cases reported from last Sunday (April 4) to Saturday, 55 cases had positive serology tests, indicating a past infection. Another 73 tested negative in the serology tests, and 37 results are still pending.
With 18 patients discharged on Saturday, 60,307 people have fully recovered from the disease.
A total of 45 patients remain in hospital, including one in critical condition in the intensive care unit, MOH said.
Another 236 are recuperating in community facilities. They either have mild symptoms or are clinically well but had tested positive for Covid-19.
Singapore has had 30 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while 15 who tested positive have died of other causes.
