As of 18 February 2020, 12 pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified four additional cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore. Of these, three are linked to the Grace Assembly of God and one is linked to a previous case.
This brings the total number of cases to 81 so far.
About the confirmed cases
Case 78
Case 78 is a 57-year-old female Singapore Citizen with no recent travel history to China. She is currently warded in an isolation room at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID). She is linked to the cluster at Grace Assembly of God.
Case 79
Case 79 is a 35-year-old female Malaysian national who is a Singapore Work Pass holder and has no recent travel history to China. She is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. She is a family member of Case 72.
Case 80
Case 80 is a 38-year-old female Singapore Citizen with no recent travel history to China. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 18 February morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at the National University Hospital (NUH). She is linked to Case 66. She works at NUH in an administrative function and had not interacted with patients since the onset of symptoms.
Case 81
Case 81 is a 50-year-old male Singapore Citizen with no recent travel history to China. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 18 February morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. He is linked to the cluster at Grace Assembly of God.
Case 77 (Announced on 17 February)
Case 77 is a 35-year-old male Singapore Citizen with no recent travel history to China. He is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID. He is a contact of Case 50 [3].
Update on condition of confirmed cases
To date, a total of 29 cases have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from the hospital. Of the 52 confirmed cases who are still in the hospital, most are stable or improving. Four are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
Links between previous cases found
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.
- Cases 8 and 9, as well as Cases 31, 33 and 38, are linked to The Life Church and Missions Singapore (146B Paya Lebar Road).
- Nine of the confirmed cases (Cases 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 27, 28, 34 and 40) are linked to Yong Thai Hang (24 Cavan Road).
- Three of the confirmed cases (Cases 30, 36 and 39) are linked to the private business meeting held at Grand Hyatt Singapore from 20 to 22 January.
- Five of the confirmed cases (Cases 42, 47, 52, 56 and 69) are linked to the Seletar Aerospace Heights construction site.
- 21 of the confirmed cases (Cases 48, 49, 51, 53, 54, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 63, 66, 67, 68, 70, 71, 73, 74, 78, 80 and 81) are linked to the Grace Assembly of God.
- Case 44 is linked to Cases 13 and 26;
- Case 72 is linked to Cases 59 and 79;
- Case 50 is linked to 55, 65 and 77; and
- Case 75 is linked to Case 41.
Contact tracing is underway for the other seven locally transmitted cases to establish any links to previous cases or travel history to mainland China.
Update on contact tracing for confirmed cases
Contact tracing for the confirmed cases is ongoing. Once identified, MOH will closely monitor all close contacts. As a precautionary measure, they will be quarantined for 14 days from their last exposure to the patient. In addition, all other identified contacts who have a low risk of being infected will be under active surveillance and will be contacted daily to monitor their health status.
As of 18 February 2020, 12 pm, MOH has identified 2,486 close contacts who have been quarantined. Of these, 1,160 are currently quarantined, and 1,326 have completed their quarantine.
At least 72,000 people have now been infected in China and around the world with a death toll of nearly 1,900 that is mainly concentrated in China, Wuhan where the virus originated from.
