COVID-19: Singapore sees 447 new cases; MOH reports 2 fatalities, 1 being probed for cause of death
SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) reported a total of 447 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore as of noon on Saturday (2 May), bringing the country’s total to 17,548 – the highest recorded in Southeast Asia.
This comes more than a week after it confirmed a single-day high of 1,426 new cases. Also reported on Saturday were two new deaths – one of which is being investigated.
The vast majority of the new cases are foreign workers living in dorms, said the ministry. Of the six community transmission cases, four are Singaporeans or permanent residents and two are Work Pass holders.
MOH also noted that of the new cases, 93 per cent are linked to known clusters.
The number of new cases in the community has also decreased to an average of 12 per day in the past week – down from an average of 23 per day during the week before. Meanwhile, the number of unlinked cases in the community has also decreased from an average of 14 cases per day in the week before to 6 per day in the past week.
2 deaths; 1 linked to virus
One of the deaths was a 76-year-old Singaporean man – Case 1323 – who died on Friday of complications due to COVID-19. He was confirmed to be infected on 6 April and had a history of cancer.
“Changi General Hospital has reached out to his family and is extending assistance to them,” said MOH.
This brings Singapore’s total number of patient deaths due to COVID-19 complications to 17.
A 47-year-old Bangladeshi man – Case 17410 – also died on Friday. He was confirmed to have been infected with COVID-19 after he died and investigations are underway to establish the cause of death, said MOH.
Within the public healthcare sector, a 27-year-old Malaysian man who works as a housekeeper at the National University Hospital (NUH) was confirmed to be infected. He has no travel history to affected countries or regions and his infection was confirmed on 30 April. He is currently warded at NUH.
New clusters
Five new clusters were also confirmed by MOH; at 5 Neythal Road (4 cases), 34 Sungei Kadut Loop (15 cases), 16 Tuas Avenue 3 (6 cases), 21 Tuas View Square (131 cases) and 2 Tuas South Street 2 (15 cases).
MOH also reported that 79 more COVID-19 patients have also been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 1,347.
There are currently 1,710 patients still in hospital, out of which 24 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit. Another 14,474 patients, most of whom have mild symptoms or are clinically well but are still infected, have been isolated and are being cared for at community facilities.
Earlier on Saturday, the government’s multi-ministry taskforce said that it would be progressively easing the circuit breaker measures in the coming weeks. It warned, however, that the regulations could be reinstated if the number of coronavirus cases began to rise again.
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