SINGAPORE, Dec 22 — Singapore today reported 29 new imported cases of Covid-19 — the highest daily case tally since September 21, when there were 31 infections.

There are no cases in the wider community.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said that 24 of the infected people today have no symptoms.

Of the new cases, MOH said that three are Singaporeans while another one is a permanent resident who had returned from Costa Rica, India, Indonesia and the United States.

Another 23 are work pass holders — including 21 foreign domestic workers — currently employed in Singapore who had arrived from Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines and the US.

The remaining two cases are short-term visit pass holders, the ministry said. One had arrived from India to visit a relative here while the other is a crew member of a ship which had arrived from Indonesia.

MOH said that the 22-year-old man had not disembarked from the ship until he was taken to a quarantine facility.

All 29 imported cases had been placed on stay-home notices or isolated upon their arrival in Singapore and they were tested for the coronavirus.

Singapore continues to see imported cases as foreign workers, citizens enter country

During a media briefing today, Education Minister Lawrence Wong, who co-chairs the governmental Covid-19 task force, said that Singapore will see imported cases as it continues to allow foreign workers and returning Singaporeans to enter.

“It’s to be expected... unless we refused to take in any person coming into Singapore, which means Singaporeans may not have access to their foreign domestic workers… or construction workers, which would mean a huge delay in projects,” he said.

“So, if we want these things to continue, whether it’s for construction, whether it’s for foreign domestic workers to look after elderly Singaporeans, new arrivals will have to come in.”

These workers have to undertake a free Covid-19 test before departing for Singapore to certify that they are Covid-19-negative before they can come, he added.

“But even that is not foolproof because you can have an incubation period. You may test negative a few days before you depart, but when you arrive, you may end up testing positive because of the incubation period. And that’s why I think we have to expect that with a constant flow of people coming into Singapore… a fair number of them will be impacted.”

He added: “The assurance to everyone is that all of them have been isolated from the airport, taking dedicated transport to the hotels that they are in, and they are serving the full 14 days of isolation before they are allowed out, and then they will be tested along the way as well.”

Community case yesterday ‘likely a past infection’

In an update on the sole community case that was reported on Monday, MOH said that the serological test of the 39-year-old Singaporean woman was positive.

This indicates “a likely past infection”, the ministry said.

The case was the first community infection Singapore has seen in over two weeks.

Separately, MOH said that the number of new cases in the community has remained low with a total of one case in the past week who is not linked to other confirmed cases so far.

Updates on remaining cases

The total number of infections in Singapore now stands at 58,461.

Of these, 58,304 people have fully recovered and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities, including 17 today.

There are still 47 patients in hospitals and most are in stable condition or improving. No one is in intensive care.

Another 81 patients are isolated at community facilities. They have mild symptoms or are clinically well but still tested positive for Covid-19.

Twenty-nine people have died from complications due to the disease.— TODAY