COVID-19: Singapore confirms 657 cases, total at 18,205
SINGAPORE – The Ministry of Health (MOH) reported a total of 657 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore as of noon on Sunday (3 May), bringing the country’s tally to 18,205 – the highest recorded in Southeast Asia.
A total of 626 new cases are foreign workers living in dorms, said the ministry. There are 13 cases in the local community, of which 10 are Singaporeans or permanent residents and three are work-pass holders.
Eighteen cases are work permit holders living outside dormitories.
In a statement, MOH said that “the number of cases among migrant workers has been fluctuating in recent days due to clearance of backlogged cases by one laboratory”. MOH is working with the laboratory to stabilise its operations.
The health ministry also announced six new clusters including NCS Hub (5 Ang Mo Kio Street 62), the headquarters of the information technology company. The other clusters are 16 Fan Yoong Road, 15 Gul Way, 23 Sungei Kadut Street 2, 9A Tech Park Crescent and 64 Woodlands Industrial Park E9.
Singapore’s 18th COVID-19 fatality
Case 14,744, an 86-year-old Singaporean woman died from complications due to COVID-19 infection on Sunday. She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 27 April, and had a history of diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia. Khoo Teck Puat Hospital has reached out to her family and is extending assistance to them.
The ministry also said that the cause of death for Case 17,410, a 47-year-old Bangladeshi man who was confirmed to have been infected with COVID-19 after he died on Friday, is ischaemic heart disease.
Meanwhile, there is one new case involving a public healthcare sector personnel. Case 17,881 is a 34-year-old Singaporean woman who has no recent travel history to affected countries or regions.
A nurse at the Health Promotion Board who was deployed to the community care facility at Singapore EXPO, she was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 2 May. She is currently warded at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases and had not gone to work since the onset of symptoms.
Updates on patients
A total of 61 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 1,408 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities.
There are currently 1,630 confirmed cases still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and 22 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
A total of 15,149 are isolated and cared for at community facilities. These are those who have mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19.
Easing of circuit breaker measures
On Saturday, the government’s multi-ministry taskforce on the coronavirus 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.
Earlier on Sunday, Minister of Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing said that the government is looking to restart the economy progressively from 12 May, but majority of the workforce in Singapore will be under a work-from-home regime for the “foreseeable future” – even after the circuit breaker measures are lifted completely.
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