Fortunately for us, the bulk of our COVID-19 infections come from abroad, so it’s easy to ringfence them and separate them from the community.
However, no matter how safe and careful we are, the coronavirus always seems to find a way to the community.
Sole COVID-19 Community Case on 21 Apr is an Engineer Who Was in India Last Year
15 new COVID-19 cases were reported yesterday (21 Apr), of whom one is from the community.
The man is a permanent resident who works as a 39-year-old systems engineer at healthcare provider Parkway Pantai.
He had been working from home, and hadn’t returned to his workplace yet.
The man had travelled to India on 9 July, 2020 and returned to Singapore on 24 Jan this year.
Upon his return to Singapore, he served his stay-home-notice at a dedicated facility until 7 Feb and tested negative for COVID-19.
But on Monday (19 Apr), when the man took a pre-departure test prior to a trip, the result came back positive and he was taken to the National Centre of Infectious Diseases in an ambulance.
The man is asymptomatic and is currently unlinked. His serology test has also come back positive, meaning this is likely a past infection.
14 Imported Cases
The remaining cases were all imported and had been placed on stay-home notice upon arrival in Singapore.
Among the cases are:
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2 Singapore Permanent Residents who returned from India
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2 dependant’s pass holders who arrived from India and the UAE
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1 student’s pass holder who arrived from India
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7 work pass holders who arrived from India, Luxembourg, Nepal, the Netherlands, UAE, and UK
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1 work permit holder who arrived from Indonesia and is a foreign domestic worker
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1 short-term visit pass holder who arrived from India to visit his family member who is a Singaporean
Tightened Border Restrictions For Travellers from India
On Tuesday (20 Apr), Singapore tightened border restrictions for travellers from India.
They now have to serve an additional seven days of stay-home notice at their residence following their 14-day stay-home notice at dedicated facilities.
Due to the escalating outbreak in India and the emergence of new COVID-19 variants, the authorities will also reduce entry approvals for non-Singapore citizens or permanent residents.
70 Confirmed Cases Currently in Hospitals
According to the Ministry of Health, 36 more cases have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities.
In total, 60,576 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged.
There are currently 70 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.
Another 204 are isolated and cared for at community facilities.
Featured Image: kandl stock / Shutterstock.com
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