14 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore, all imported

SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 14 new COVID-19 cases as of noon on Friday (Feb 19).

All the cases were imported and had been placed on stay-home notice or isolated upon arrival in Singapore, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in its preliminary daily update.

No locally transmitted cases were reported in the community or in foreign worker dormitories.

From Feb 5, newly arrived work permit and S Pass holders in the construction, marine and process sectors as well as foreign domestic workers and confinement nannies who have recent travel history to higher-risk places are required to take on-arrival serology tests. This is in addition to polymerase chain reaction tests.

Of the new cases, 13 were not required to undergo mandatory on-arrival serology tests upon arrival, said MOH on Friday.

Details of the new cases will be released on Friday night, said MOH.

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The health ministry said on Thursday that a 72-year-old Singaporean man who received his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine later suffered a cardiac arrest, but there is no indication that it was due to the vaccination.

The man received the jab on Tuesday morning and suffered a cardiac arrest that night. He has been admitted to the intensive care unit at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH).

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"He had received his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Feb 16 morning, but based on TTSH's initial assessment, there is no indication that the cardiac arrest was due to COVID-19 vaccination," said MOH, adding that it was alerted to the case by the hospital on Feb 17.

A medical team is conducting further tests to establish the cause of the cardiac arrest. 

The man has a history of cancer, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia, said MOH.

As of Friday, Singapore has reported a total of 59,846 COVID-19 cases. 

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