As of Thursday noon (28 May), the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed an additional 373 cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore.
This brings the total tally of cases in Singapore to 33,249.
MOH shares that the vast majority of whom are Work Permit holders residing in foreign worker dormitories. There are no Singaporean/ Permanent Resident cases for today and this is the first time that no local case has been reported since 23 Feb.
There are no imported cases today.
Of the new cases, 99% are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.
According to MOH, more than 39,000 preschool staff have so far been tested as part of its proactive screening. Of these, 13 staff had tested positive using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, which is a sensitive test that could pick up minute fragments of the COVID-19 virus ribonucleic acid (RNA).
To determine if these were past or current infections, MOH has done an epidemiological study of these cases. Of the 13 cases, 11 of their serological tests have come back positive, which is indicative of past infections. These individuals were unlikely to be infectious by the time they were tested during the recent screening but could be shedding minute fragments of the virus RNA, which were no longer transmissible and infective to others.
Two test results are pending, including today’s case.
Two new clusters identified
- Seven of the newly confirmed cases are linked to four previous cases to form a new cluster at a dormitory at 15 Kaki Bukit Road 4.
- 26 of the newly confirmed cases are linked to five previous cases to form a new cluster at a dormitory at 31 Kranji Crescent.
Update on condition of confirmed cases
1,018 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 18,294 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.
There are currently 510 confirmed cases who are still in the hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and 7 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
14,422 are isolated and cared for at community facilities. These are those who have mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19.
23 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection.
More cases to be expected as Singapore aims to test more
As Singapore focuses on ramping up COVID-19 test rates, especially among migrant workers, the country is also looking to diversify its sources of COVID-19 testing resources, said the Ministry of Health, Singapore’s director of medical services Kenneth Mak on 12 May.
At the moment, around 3,000 migrant workers living in dormitories are tested for the virus on a daily basis, but the Government wants to increase the testing rate in the next few weeks in order to make sure that these workers are free of the virus before resuming work.
While addressing reporters in a virtual press conference, Associate Professor Mak said that Singapore’s decision to intensify its testing rate is taking place at a time where many countries around the world are also doing the same.
On Tuesday, Singapore announced that it plans to test all 323,000 migrant workers living in cramped dormitories in the country as they make up the biggest chunk of infected cases here.
Employers have been told that they will have to bear the cost of the testing.
