Singapore reports 277 new COVID-19 cases

The new cases include five from the community- two Singaporeans (citizens) or permanent residents (foreigners) and three foreigners holding work passes but staying outside the dorms, said the Ministry of Health (MOH). The rest of the cases comprised of migrant workers living in dormitories, it said.

Singapore reported 277 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, mostly foreign workers living in dormitories, taking the nationwide tally to 49,375, the health ministry said. The new cases include five from the community- two Singaporeans (citizens) or permanent residents (foreigners) and three foreigners holding work passes but staying outside the dorms, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

The rest of the cases comprised of migrant workers living in dormitories, it said. With this, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country has reached 49,375, it said.

There are also two imported cases, who have been placed on stay-home notice (SHN) upon their arrival in Singapore, the MOH said. Meanwhile, the five imported cases reported on Thursday had returned from India on July 11 and 12.

The five patients, including two permanent residents, two work pass holders and one dependant's pass holder, were placed on stay-home notice upon their arrival here. All were asymptomatic and tested positive while serving their SHN. Meanwhile, an infectious disease expert said Singapore's strategy of taking care of the migrant workers was "very novel".

This is because when infections started to spike in dorms in April, the focus was on making sure workers most at risk were isolated first, said Prof Dale Fisher, a senior infectious diseases consultant at the National University Hospital, during The Straits Times COVID-19 Webinar on Thursday (July 23). "Part of this is why we've seen over 48,000 cases now, and 27 deaths. The (low mortality) is absolutely staggering," said Fisher, who is also chair of the World Health Organisation's Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network steering committee.

Singapore has placed a stronger priority on preventing death rather than transmission, he was quoted as saying by The Straits Times. Of the 137 cases hospitalised as of Thursday, most are stable or improving, while 3,919 were isolated at community facilities for mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19. A total number of 45,015 patients have fully recovered from the infection, including 220 discharged on Thursday.