The Ministry of Health (MOH) reported a preliminary number of 383 new cases as of noon on Sunday (7 June), bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases to 37,910.
In a press release, the ministry said that while the vast majority of the cases are work permit holders residing in foreign worker dormitories, there are 14 cases in the community, of whom 10 are Singaporeans or permanent residents and four are holders of work or student passes.
Among the 14 cases, nine were proactively screened as part of the ministry’s active case finding to identify cases early and isolate them, it said. “Of these, six were picked up as a result of our proactive testing of school staff and students above the age of 12 diagnosed with acute respiratory infection (ARI) at first presentation to a doctor,” the MOH said. “The epidemiological evidence suggests that these cases were likely to have been infected during the Circuit Breaker period, and not after school re-opening.”
These are students and staff from Anglican High School, CHIJ Katong Convent, CHIJ St. Theresa’s Convent, Geylang Methodist Secondary School, Hwa Chong Institution and Ascensia International School.
The other three cases were tested as they had prolonged ARI symptoms. Epidemiological investigations are ongoing for the remaining cases.
Separately, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said on Sunday that of the five cases from its schools, four are students and one is a non-teaching staff. “They are from five different schools – Anglican High School, CHIJ Katong Convent, CHIJ St. Theresa’s Convent, Geylang Methodist Secondary School and Hwa Chong Institution – and are not a cluster,” MOE said.
“The student from Hwa Chong Institution was last in school on 7 April, before the start of the Circuit Breaker. Of the other four cases, three were last in school on 3 June, while one was last in school on 2 June.”
All five cases displayed mild symptoms, with the onset of symptoms being 3 June for three cases, and 2 June and 31 May for the remaining two cases, the MOE said.
While positive, the tests for all five cases revealed low viral loads. A repeat test using new samples showed that all five cases were negative. The evidence suggests that they were likely infected during the Circuit Breaker period, and not after schools began operations in Phase 1 of Singapore’s reopening.
Singapore’s latest fatality – and its youngest by far – is a 41-year-old Chinese male national who died on Thursday. The man, identified as case 11714, was confirmed to be infected on 22 April, but had recovered and was discharged on 17 May, said the MOH on Saturday.
“He collapsed on 4 June and the coroner has certified that the cause of death was massive pulmonary thromboembolism following SARS-CoV-2 infection,” it added.
Over 24,500 cases discharged
With 350 more patients were discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Saturday, a total of 24,559 – over 60 per cent of total cases here – have fully recovered from the infection.
Most of the 308 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, while four are in critical condition in the intensive care unit. A total of 12,635 patients with mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive are isolated and cared for at community facilities.
Apart from 25 patients who have died from COVID-19 complications, nine others who tested positive for the virus have died from unrelated causes, including three whose deaths were attributed to a heart attack and two whose deaths were attributed to coronary heart disease.
“Only cases where the attending doctor or pathologist attributes the primary or underlying cause of death as due to COVID-19 infection will be added to the COVID-19 death count,” said the MOH in previous press releases, adding that the method of assessment is consistent with international practices for classifying deaths.
As of 1 June, the ministry has conducted 408,495 swab tests, of which 264,393 were done on unique individuals. This translates to around 71,700 swabs conducted per 1 million total population, and about 46,400 unique individuals swabbed per 1 million total population.
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