The Ministry of Health (MOH) has reported an additional 12 cases of Covid-19 in Singapore on Wednesday (Sep. 23).
This brings the total number of cases to 57,639.
One new case in community
There is one new case in the community, a Work Permit holder.
Case 57775 had been identified as a contact of a previously confirmed case, and had been placed on quarantine earlier. He was tested during quarantine to determine his status, even though he is asymptomatic.
Overall, the number of new cases in the community has remained stable at an average of one case per day in the past two weeks.
The number of unlinked cases in the community has also remained stable at an average of fewer than one case per day in the past two weeks.
MOH will continue to closely monitor these numbers, as well as the cases detected through our surveillance programme.
Four imported cases
Amongst the four imported cases, three (Cases 57776, 57782 and 57783) are Singapore Permanent Residents who returned to Singapore from India on Sep. 11.
The remaining case (Case 57781) is a Work Pass holder currently employed in Singapore who arrived from Iran on Sep. 11.
All of them had been placed on 14-day Stay-Home Notice (SHN) upon arrival in Singapore, and were tested while serving their SHN at dedicated facilities.
Seven cases in dormitories
Amongst the seven cases residing in dormitories, four had been identified earlier as contacts of previous cases, and had already been quarantined to prevent further transmission.
They were tested during quarantine to determine their status.
The remaining three cases were detected through surveillance testing, such as through MOH's bi-weekly Rostered Routine Testing of workers living in dormitories.
This allows MOH to pick up cases early, including asymptomatic ones, so that they are able to ring-fence them quickly to prevent further transmission, by aggressively containing, tracing and isolating the close contacts.
29 cases discharged
29 more cases of Covid-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities.
In all, 57,291 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.
There are currently 36 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and none is in the intensive care unit.
285 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.
27 have passed away from complications due to Covid-19 infection.
No new locations
MOH regularly updates a list of public places visited by confirmed cases for more than 30 minutes during their infectious period.
There are no new locations reported today.
This is the latest list of locations visited by confirmed cases within the last two weeks.
Those who had been identified as close contacts of confirmed cases would already have been notified by MOH.
As a precautionary measure, those who had been at these locations during the specified timings should monitor their health closely for 14 days from their date of visit.
They should see a doctor promptly if they develop symptoms of acute respiratory infection (such as cough, sore throat and runny nose), as well as fever and loss of taste or smell, and inform the doctor of their exposure history.
MOH also said that there is no need to avoid places where confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been. The National Environment Agency will engage the management of affected premises to provide guidance on cleaning and disinfection.
Top photo from ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images