As of 12pm on April 17, Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed 623 new cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore, including one new imported case who is serving Stay-Home Notice.
27 cases have been reported in the community; comprising 22 Singaporeans/Permanent Residents, four work pass holder and one visitor.
MOH said in a press statement that by the 11th day of the circuit breaker, the number of new cases in the community has decreased. From an average of 40 cases per day in the week before, it has dropped to an average of 32 per day in the past week.
The main increase for April 17 continues to be for Work Permit holders residing in dormitories. This is in line with continued efforts to actively test and isolate the infected workers.
Most of these cases have a mild illness and are being monitored in the community isolation facilities or general ward of our hospitals, MOH said. The cases are generally mild, and none of them is in the intensive care unit.
"The circuit breaker measures appear to have helped, but we still have to monitor carefully the numbers over the next few days," MOH said, adding that the ministry is particularly concerned that it is increasingly difficult to link the new cases and identify the source of infection.
The number of unlinked cases in the community has increased slightly, from an average of 19 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 22 per day in the past week.
"We have an ongoing surveillance programme, where a small sample of patients at our primary care facilities are tested for COVID-19 infections. We have picked up some cases through these tests, which is an indication of undetected cases in the community."