COVID-19: Singapore confirms 573 new cases and 3 more clusters, total at 18,778
SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed on Monday (4 May) 573 new COVID-19 cases and three more clusters in Singapore, bringing the total to 18,778 – the highest recorded in Southeast Asia.
The three additional clusters are linked to Hai Leck Engineering at 9 Tuas Avenue 1, Melody Springs construction site at 477A Yishun Street 44, and 6 Tuas Basin Link.
Of the new cases, 560, some 98 per cent, are foreign workers living in dormitories.
COVID-19: Singapore confirms 573 new cases and 3 more clusters, total at 18,778 (UPDATE) https://t.co/9Pq7LPy8th pic.twitter.com/Y2QAS389HW
— Yahoo Singapore (@YahooSG) May 4, 2020
“We continue to pick up many more cases amongst work permit holders residing in dormitories, including in factory-converted dormitories, because of extensive testing in these premises,” said the MOH.
Of the remaining cases, eight are foreign workers residing outside of dorms, while five – all Singaporeans and permanent residents – are cases in the community.
Overall, 11 per cent of the new cases have no established links.
The ministry said that the number of new cases in the community has decreased from an average of 20 cases per day in the week before, to an average of nine per day in the past week.
It added that the number of unlinked cases in the community has also decreased, from an average of 12 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 4 per day in the past week.
“We will continue to closely monitor these numbers, as well as the cases detected through our surveillance programme,” said the ministry.
UPDATE: Of the 573 new cases, five – all Singaporeans and permanent residents – are cases in the community. https://t.co/9Pq7LPy8th pic.twitter.com/TOZiRNVtFJ
— Yahoo Singapore (@YahooSG) May 4, 2020
Of the five new community cases, three are working in the public healthcare sector. All three are Singaporean women with no recent travel history to affected countries or regions.
They are a 33-year-old facilities manager at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID), identified as case 18510; a 32-year-old doctor at Changi General Hospital (CGH), identified as case 18583; and a 52-year-old healthcare volunteer at the Singapore EXPO, one of three community care facilities here, identified as case 18669.
The NCID facilities manager tested positive for the virus on Sunday and is currently warded at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Prior to her hospital admission, she had gone to work.
The CGH doctor also tested positive for the virus on Sunday and is currently warded at CGH. Prior to her hospital admission, she had been at work for a few hours.
The healthcare volunteer, one of at least two healthcare workers linked to the EXPO, tested positive for the virus on Monday and is currently warded at the NCID. Prior to her hospital admission, she had gone to work.
Separately, the MOH said the number of new cases amongst foreign workers residing outside dorms has also decreased from an average of 22 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 13 per day in the past week.
The ministry also said that they will be closing two inactive clusters that have not been linked to any more cases for the past two incubation periods, or 28 days: Little Gems Preschool at 3 Ang Mo Kio Street 62 and the 55 Sungei Kadut Loop dormitory.
More than 50 clusters linked to foreign worker dormitories have been identified thus far, including Singapore’s largest cluster of 2,510 cases linked to S11 Dormitory@Punggol, followed by Tuas View Dormitory linked to 1,047 cases and Sungei Tengah Lodge linked to 1,002 cases.
The three are among the 25 dorms that have been gazetted as isolation areas and account for close to 28 per cent of the total 16,393 infected cases across all dorms.
Some 400,000 foreign workers live in dorms here in Singapore.
(For more details on the clusters in Singapore, read here.)
49 more patients discharged; 25 in ICU
The MOH said on Monday that 49 more patients have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 1,457 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged.
Most of the 1,491 hospitalised cases are stable or improving while 25 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit, up from 22 on Sunday.
A total of 15,812 patients, who have mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive for the virus, are isolated and cared for at community facilities.
Eighteen people have succumbed to COVID-19 complications, including an 86-year-old Singaporean woman who died on Sunday.
Separately, five patients who tested positive for the virus have died from unrelated causes.
The latest fatalities include a 46-year-old Indian national whose fatal injuries were linked to a fall from height after being found at a staircase landing in Khoo Teck Puat Hospital on 23 April. He had tested positive for the virus prior to his death.
Another is a 47-year-old Bangladeshi man who died of ischaemic heart disease last Friday. He was confirmed to have been infected with the virus after his death.
As of 27 April, the ministry has conducted 143,919 swab tests, of which 99,929 were done on unique individuals.
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