SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 11 new COVID-19 cases as of noon on Friday (Sep 18), including one in the community and one imported infection.
This is the lowest daily figure since Mar 12, when nine new COVID-19 cases were reported. The total number of cases in Singapore is 57,543.
The State Courts at Havelock Road and a Giant supermarket at Sunshine Place shopping mall were added to the list of places visited by COVID-19 community cases during their infectious period.
UPDATED MAP: All the places that COVID-19 community cases visited while they were infectious
SOLE COMMUNITY CASE UNLINKED
Of the new cases reported on Friday, 10 were asymptomatic.
The sole community case is a 30-year-old Singaporean man who is currently unlinked to previous cases. He was detected after being diagnosed with acute respiratory infection (ARI) at first presentation to a doctor.
Epidemiological investigations of the case are in progress. All his identified close contacts have been isolated and placed on quarantine, MOH said, adding that they will be tested at the start and end of their quarantine period.
Serological tests are also to be conducted for his household contacts to determine if he could have been infected by them, MOH said.
The imported case is a work permit holder who arrived in Singapore from India on Sep 6. The 38-year-old Indian national was placed on a stay-home notice upon arrival, and was tested while serving the notice at a dedicated facility.
Of the nine cases residing in dormitories, five were identified earlier as contacts of previous cases, and had been quarantined to prevent further transmission.
The remaining four cases were detected through surveillance testing.
“This allows us to pick up cases early, including asymptomatic ones, so that we are able to ring-fence them quickly to prevent further transmission, by aggressively containing, tracing and isolating the close contacts,” said MOH.
32 MORE DISCHARGED
Another 32 COVID-19 cases were discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities.
In all, 57,071 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.
There are currently 38 patients who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and no one is in the intensive care unit. A total of 407 people are isolated and cared for at community facilities.
Twenty-seven people have died from complications due to COVID-19.
SALIVA TESTING
On Friday, MOH said it is conducting field tests to assess if saliva testing can be scaled for more widespread use in Singapore.
Responding to queries from CNA, the ministry said factors such as consistency and integrity of sample collection, efficiency of laboratory processes and the ability to cater for high volumes of tests via pooled testing.
Currently, most of the samples for COVID-19 tests in Singapore are collected through nasopharyngeal (nose) or oropharyngeal (throat) swabs.
READ: MOH conducting field tests to check feasibility of widespread saliva testing for COVID-19
SINGAPORE ON ENGLAND’S TRAVEL CORRIDOR LIST
Singapore and Thailand have been added to England’s COVID-19 travel corridor list, the United Kingdom government said on Thursday.
From Saturday 4am UK time, travellers from these countries will no longer have to self-isolate for two weeks upon arrival in England.
READ: WHO chief criticises ‘false choice’ between public health and economy in COVID-19 fight
The exemption applies to travellers from Singapore and Thailand so long as they have not been in, or transited through, any other non-exempt countries in the preceding 14 days, said the Department of Transport and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
Singapore currently has cross-border travel arrangements with China, Malaysia, Brunei, South Korea and Japan, while talks are ongoing to establish such arrangements with Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia.
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