SINGAPORE - There were 39 new coronavirus cases - including four in the community - confirmed as at Saturday noon (April 17), taking Singapore's total to 60,808.
There were 35 imported cases who had been placed on stay-home notice (SHN) or isolated upon arrival in Singapore, said the Ministry of Health (MOH). They include 10 Singaporeans or permanent residents, and eight foreign domestic workers.
There were no new cases from migrant workers' dormitories, said MOH.
The recent locally transmitted cases are a stark reminder that the virus has not been eradicated and new cases and clusters can easily emerge in the community if people let their guard down, MOH said.
More details will be announced on Saturday night.
A senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore (NUS) was one of two Covid-19 cases in the community reported on Friday.
This is the first time since March 3 that two new cases in the community were reported on the same day.
The 34-year-old Indian national went to work on Monday (April 12) before he experienced an onset of Covid-19 symptoms that evening, said MOH.
Monday was his first day back at work after serving SHN and quarantine following a trip to India from Dec 28 to March 21.
During his SHN, he was identified as a close contact of a previously reported case as they had been on the same flight to Singapore.
He was then quarantined at a dedicated facility from March 24 to April 11.
His three tests done during quarantine on March 25, April 3 and April 10 were all negative.
The work pass holder also tested negative for the virus on March 19 before flying from India, and when he arrived in Singapore on March 21.
After feeling fatigued on Monday evening, he had a sore throat and body aches the next day. He stayed home.
On Wednesday, he developed a fever and went to a polyclinic. He took a Covid-19 test there, which came back positive the next day, and he was taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases in an ambulance.
His serology test has come back negative, indicating that this is a current infection, said MOH.
The second community case is a 44-year-old Indonesian man on a short-term visit pass to care for his father, who is receiving medical treatment for a condition unrelated to Covid-19. He arrived from Indonesia on Feb 28, and served SHN at a dedicated facility until March 14.
Singapore has had 30 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while 15 who tested positive have died of other causes.
Globally, the virus outbreak, which began in December 2019, has infected more than 140 million people. Over 3.01 million people have died.
