SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 226 new COVID-19 cases as of noon on Monday (Aug 3), including one in the community and nine imported cases, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).
This brings the total number of cases in the country to 53,051.
The sole community case involves a prison inmate on a short-term visit pass who had arrived in Singapore before the implementation of border measures, said MOH.
The inmate is a 26-year-old Sri Lankan man who tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday.
"He had served an earlier sentence in prison prior to his current admission," the health ministry said.
As part of the prison service's proactive screening of inmates, he tested negative for COVID-19 when he was swabbed on his entry and exit on Jul 2 and Jul 22 respectively.
After he was readmitted to Changi Prison on Jul 30, he was tested again for COVID-19, even though he was asymptomatic. His test came back positive on Aug 2.
He had been segregated from the general inmate population since his re-admission to Changi Prison, said MOH, and is currently unlinked to other cases.
"Epidemiological investigations of the case are in progress. In the meantime, all the identified close contacts have been isolated and placed on quarantine, and will be tested at the start and end of their quarantine period so that we can detect asymptomatic cases," said MOH.
NINE IMPORTED CASES
Nine imported cases were placed on stay-home notices upon arrival in Singapore.
Of the imported cases, one is a permanent resident - a 40-year-old man who had returned to Singapore from India on Jul 22.
Another five cases were work pass or work permit holders who are currently employed in Singapore and had arrived from India, Japan and the Philippines on Jul 22.
The remaining three cases are dependent's pass holders who arrived from India on Jul 20 and Jul 22 - a one-year-old boy and two 28-year-old women.
A total of 216 cases were work permit holders residing in foreign worker dormitories.
Of the new cases, 99 per cent are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.
MORE PATIENTS DISCHARGED
As of Monday, 253 more COVID-19 patients have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities.
"In all, 47,179 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities," said MOH.
Currently, 115 cases are still in hospital, and most are stable or improving. One is in a critical condition in the intensive care unit.
There are 5,730 cases isolated and cared for community facilities. These are people who have mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19.
Twenty-seven people have died from complications due to COVID-19.
PREVIOUS COVID-19 CASES AT CHANGI PRISON
Another inmate, a 21-year-old Sri Lankan, was reported as a COVID-19 case on Jun 19. He was sentenced to jail and caning on Jun 12 for overstaying, after arriving in Singapore on a social visit pass on Jan 10, the SPS said last month.
The man was admitted to Changi Prison on Jun 6, at which point he tested negative for the disease. He was later detected to have COVID-19 on Jun 18.
The prison service said that he had no links to four earlier COVID-19 cases at Changi Prison. The four earlier cases comprise of three inmates from different cohorts and a staff nurse from SPS' medical service provider.
Sad news! Sorry to hear that!