20 COVID-19 Cases Today (19 Apr); 1 is a Community Case

Another day, another community case. With community cases popping up daily, it is no wonder people are worried about the mask-less display at yesterday’s Star Awards 2021.

As of 12pm today (19 Apr), the Ministry of Health (MOH) has preliminarily confirmed 20 new cases of COVID-19 infection.

1 is a community case.

This brings the total number of cases in Singapore to 60,851.

Based on yesterday’s figures, the number of new cases in the community has increased from 2 cases in the week before to 8 cases in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from 2 cases in the week before to 5 cases in the past week.

Sole COVID-19 Community Case Reported on 18 Apr Has The UK Variant & Has Taken 1 Vaccine Dose

The sole community case is a 39-year-old Indonesian man who works on a bunker tanker as a sea crew member.

According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), he is currently an unlinked case.

He left the vessel only to go for COVID-19 testing and vaccination.

He displayed no symptoms of the coronavirus. He took part in rostered routine testing and was tested for COVID-19 on 15 Apr, which is when he was found to have the virus.

He tested negative in an earlier round of rostered routine testing, which took place on 1 Apr.

His serological test result is negative, which likely points towards a current infection.

He has preliminarily tested positive for the B117 strain and is awaiting further corroborative tests to confirm his results.

The man had received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on 15 Apr.

According to MOH, it was not possible for the man to be infected as a result of the vaccination as the vaccine does not contain any live virus.

However, they added that one can be infected just before or after vaccination as it would usually take a few weeks for someone to develop immunity after vaccination.

So this serves as a stark reminder that just because you got your vaccination, it doesn’t mean that the pandemic is over and you can rub shoulders freely with merrymakers at Zouk.

All close contacts of the man have been identified and quarantined. These include crew members onboard the vessel with him.

316 Active Cases

There are currently 68 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and 2 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

248 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.

Featured Image: kandl stock / Shutterstock.com (Image for illustration purpose only)