The Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed 24 new cases of Covid-19 infection in Singapore as of 12pm on Thursday (April 22).

This brings the total number of cases to 60,904.

There are two new cases of locally-transmitted Covid-19 infection.

Of these, one is in the community, and one resides in a dormitory.

One in the community

There is one case in the community who is linked to a previous case.

Case 62234 is an 11 year-old male Indian national who is a Student’s Pass holder.

He is the child of Cases 62045 and 62143, and a household contact of Case 61536.

He is a student at Dimensions International College (58 Lowland Road).

As he had been identified as a close contact of Case 62045, he was placed on home quarantine on Apr. 16. He was tested for Covid-19 on Apr. 17 and Apr. 19 during quarantine and his test results were negative.

On Apr. 21, he developed a fever and reported his symptom to MOH. Another test was taken, and this time his result came back positive for Covid-19 infection.

He was conveyed in an ambulance to the National University Hospital. His serology test result has come back negative, indicating that this is likely a current infection.

One dormitory case

There is one case residing in a dormitory who is linked to a previous case.

Case 62225, a 32 year-old male Bangladesh national, is a Work Permit holder who arrived in Singapore in December 2018.

He is employed by Prosper Environmental & Engineering Pte Ltd as a construction supervisor, and works at Sembcorp Marine Admiralty Yard (60 Admiralty Road West).

He resides at Westlite Woodlands Dormitory (2 Woodlands Sector 2), and is the roommate of Case 621814.

As he had been identified as a close contact of Case 62181, he was placed on quarantine at a government quarantine facility on Apr. 19.

He is asymptomatic, but was tested for Covid-19 on Apr. 20 during quarantine to determine his status. His test result came back positive for Covid-19 infection the next day, and he was conveyed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

His earlier tests from RRT – the last being on Apr. 13 – were all negative for Covid-19 infection. His serology test result is pending.

Case 62225 received his first dose of Covid-19 vaccine on Mar. 13, and the second dose on Apr. 3. This likely accounts for his lack of symptoms.

The Covid-19 vaccine is effective in preventing symptomatic disease for the vast majority of those vaccinated, but it is possible for vaccinated individuals to get infected.

Further research is required to determine if the vaccination will also prevent onward transmission of the infection.

As part of MOH's investigations into Case 62181, MOH and the Ministry of Manpower have commenced a special testing operations to test residents of Westlite Woodlands Dormitory (2 Woodlands Sector 2) for Covid-19.

So far, 17 recovered workers were found to be positive for Covid-19. These cases were immediately isolated and conveyed to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

MOH, together with an expert panel which comprises infectious diseases and microbiology experts, is investigating if they are re-infection cases or past infections but shedding fragments of the virus.

22 imported cases

There are 22 imported cases, who had already been placed on Stay-Home Notice (SHN) upon arrival in Singapore.

One (Case 62241) is a Singaporean and two (Cases 62245 and 62256) are Singapore Permanent Residents who returned from India, Malaysia and Pakistan.

Four (Cases 62227, 62230, 62236 and 62239) are Dependant’s Pass holders who arrived from India, Sri Lanka and the UAE.

Two (Cases 62254 and 62258) are Student's Pass holders who arrived from India.

Three (Cases 62232, 62235 and 62238) are Work Pass holders who arrived from India and the Maldives.

Eight are Work Permit holders who arrived from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines, of whom three (Cases 62246, 62263 and 62267) are foreign domestic workers.

Two are Short-Term Visit Pass holders. Case 62233 is a sea crew who arrived from India to board a vessel in Singapore and Case 62240 arrived from Ethiopia for a work project in Singapore.

27 remain in hospitals

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

In all, 60,603 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.

There are currently 67 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and one is in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

204 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.

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

No locations added to list of places visited by infectious cases

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 Apr. 22.

Here is the full list of locations visited by cases in the community during their infectious period in the past 14 days, as of Apr. 22:

Top photo via Zhangxin Zheng.