14 new imported COVID-19 infections in Singapore; 1 case was not on placed stay-home notice

SINGAPORE: Fourteen new COVID-19 cases were reported in Singapore as of noon on Sunday (Feb 14), said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in its daily update.

All the new cases were imported. Of the 14 cases, 13 had been placed on stay-home notice upon arrival in Singapore, said the ministry.

The remaining case, a 28-year-old Dutch national, is a short-term visit pass holder who is in Singapore for a work project. He arrived from the Netherlands on Feb 10 and tested negative for COVID-19 upon arrival in Singapore.

The man was subsequently on a "controlled itinerary", which was "largely limited to his place of work on a vessel docked in Singapore and his accommodation", said MOH.

As part of MOH's regular testing of such travellers, he was tested again on Feb 12 and his test result came back positive for COVID-19.

"He was asymptomatic at the time of testing, but developed a fever on Feb 13. His serology test result has come back negative, indicating that this is likely a current infection," the ministry said.

"Given his recent travel history, we have classified this as an imported case."

Among the 13 other imported cases reported on Sunday are two permanent residents who returned from India and Malaysia, as well as a long-term visit pass holder who arrived from the United Kingdom.

Eight cases are work permit holders who arrived from Indonesia, Japan and Myanmar, of whom five are foreign domestic workers.

The remaining two cases are short-term visit pass holders who arrived from India to visit family members who are Singapore permanent residents.

"Epidemiological investigations are in progress. In the meantime, all the identified close contacts of the cases have been isolated and placed on quarantine, and will be tested at the start and end of their quarantine period so that we can detect asymptomatic cases," said MOH.

No new cases were found in the community and in foreign workers' dormitories.

Two food and beverage outlets in Robertson Quay were also added to a list of places visited by COVID-19 cases during their infectious period: Beast and Butterflies restaurant at M Social Singapore hotel and Bar Bar Black Sheep pub.

17 MORE CASES DISCHARGED

Seventeen more cases have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. A total of 59,621 people have fully recovered from COVID-19.

There are currently 32 cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and one is in a critical condition in the intensive care unit.

Another 118 cases are isolated and cared for at community facilities. These are patients who have mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased from two cases in the week before to seven cases in the past week, said MOH. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from two cases in the week before to four in the past week.

Among the 101 confirmed cases reported from Feb 8 to Feb 14, 48 cases have tested positive for their serology tests, 26 have tested negative, and 27 serology test results are pending.

CLUSTER LINKED TO CHINATOWN STALL OWNER

A COVID-19 cluster linked to a Chinatown Complex stall owner was identified on Friday, after his wife and two sons also tested positive for the disease.

The stall owner is a 66-year-old permanent resident identified as Case 60138. He first developed a dry cough on Jan 28 and anosmia, or loss of smell, on Feb 9, but did not seek medical attention, said MOH.

His infection was detected through community surveillance testing of stallholders and shop owners in Chinatown.

MOH noted that the stall owner and his family do not use the TraceTogether app, and while they all have TraceTogether tokens, they did not carry their tokens with them.

"Individuals are reminded to turn on their TraceTogether app or carry their TraceTogether token at all times so that we can quickly identify and isolate the close contacts of COVID-19 cases, and limit further infections," said MOH.

As of Sunday, Singapore has reported a total of 59,800 COVID-19 cases and 29 fatalities from the disease.