The Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed 17 new cases of Covid-19, as of Dec. 19, 2020.

This brings the total number of cases to 58,403.

There are no new cases of locally transmitted Covid-19 infections today.

17 imported cases

Amongst the new cases reported on Dec. 19, 15 of them are asymptomatic.

Amongst them, three were returning Singaporeans or Permanent Residents.

Here's a breakdown of the imported cases:

• One Singaporean (Case 58636)
• Two Singapore Permanent Residents (Cases 58633, 58635)
• Eight Work Permit holders (Cases 58619, 58620, 58622, 58623, 58624, 58625, 58626, 58627)
• Six Short-Term Visit pass holders (Cases 58617, 58618, 58628, 58629, 58631, 58632)

MOH investigating 13 cases who served SHN at Mandarin Orchard Singapore

Earlier this afternoon (Dec. 19), MOH shared that it was investigating 13 Covid-19 cases previously deemed to be imported cases from other countries.

The 13 cases had served their SHN at Mandarin Orchard Singapore between Oct. 22 and Nov. 11, 2020.

They were all confirmed to be infected between Nov. 2 and Nov. 11, and were observed to have high genetic similarity despite having arrived from different countries.

From MOH’s preliminary investigations, it cannot be excluded that transmissions could have occurred at Mandarin Orchard Singapore.

As a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of all guests, the hotel has stopped accepting new guests and is checking out existing guests progressively.

MOH has also commenced a special testing operations to test around 500 staff of the hotel for Covid-19 infection.

Most of those who are currently serving their SHN at Mandarin Orchard Singapore have also been tested, and are pending the results of their tests.

Nine more cases discharged

Nine more cases of Covid-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities.

In all, 58,274 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.

There are currently 38 confirmed cases who are still in the hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and none is in the intensive care unit.

62 are isolated and cared for at community facilities.

29 have passed away from complications due to Covid-19 infection.

No new locations

MOH regularly updates a list of public places visited by confirmed Covid-19 cases for more than 30 minutes when they were infectious.

No new locations were added to the list on Dec. 19.

Top image via Syahindah Ishak