The Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed 38 new cases of Covid-19 in Singapore on Wednesday (Jan. 13).

This brings the total number of cases to 58,984.

There is one locally-transmitted case residing in a dormitory. The remaining 37 cases are imported.

Unlinked locally-transmitted case

The sole locally-transmitted case residing in a dormitory is currently unlinked.

Case 59243 is a Work Permit holder who arrived from India on Dec. 11, 2020 and served his Stay-Home Notice (SHN) at a dedicated facility until Dec. 25.

His swab was done on Dec. 21, 2020 during his SHN. He tested negative for Covid-19 then.

He tested negative again on Dec. 27, 2020

He resides at Seatown Dormitory and started work in the construction sector on Jan. 6, 2021.

However, a subsequent test taken on Jan. 12, 2021 as part of Rostered Routine Testing (RRT) came back positive for Covid-19 infection.

His serological test result is positive, which indicates a likely past infection.

Due to the relatively long time interval between his travel and positive Covid-19 test, MOH has classified this case as a locally-transmitted one while epidemiological investigations are in progress.

In the meantime, all the identified close contacts of the case, including his dormitory contact and co-workers, have been isolated and placed on quarantine, and will be tested at the start and end of their quarantine period so that MOH can detect asymptomatic cases.

MOH will also conduct serological tests for the close contacts to determine if the case could have been infected by them.

Amongst the 37 imported cases:

• Three are Singaporeans (Cases 59222, 59237 and 59240) and five are Singapore Permanent Residents (Cases 59220, 59221, 59223, 59241 and 59242) who returned from France, India, Indonesia, the UK and U.S.
• One is a Long-Term Visit Pass holder who arrived from Indonesia (Case 59210).
• Four are Work Pass holders who arrived from India and the UAE (Cases 59214, 59218, 59239 and 59264).
• 21 are Work Permit holders who arrived from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines of whom eight are foreign domestic workers (Cases 59224, 59226, 59227, 59228, 59231, 59233, 59234 and 59246).
• Three are Short-Term Visit Pass holders. Cases 59235 and 59236 are family members of Singaporeans or Singapore Permanent Residents who arrived from Poland and India respectively. Case 59238 arrived from Brazil to participate in an e-sport event.

Case 59229 is a sea crew who worked onboard bunker tanker NewOcean 6.

He had been identified as a close contact of Case 58812 and was placed on quarantine on Dec. 31, 2020.

He was tested during quarantined and confirmed to have Covid-19 infection on Jan. 12, 2021.

Epidemiological investigations are in progress.

In the meantime, all the identified close contacts of the cases have been isolated and place don quarantine, and will be tested at the start and end of their quarantine period so that MOH can detect asymptomatic cases.

MOH will also conduct serological tests for the close contacts to determine if the case could have been infected by them.

All 37 cases had already been placed on SHN or isolated upon arrival in Singapore and were tested while serving SHN or during isolation.

Here's a breakdown of the cases:

28 more discharged

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

In all, 58,722 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.

There are currently 56 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. One is in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

177 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 Jan. 12, 2021.

Here is the full list of locations visited by cases in the community during their infectious period in the past 14 days, as of Jan. 12:

Top image from OKH.