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COVID-19: Singapore reports 344 new cases, total 31,960

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - MAY 23: A volunteer wearing protective face mask talks to a security guard at a factory converted dormitory on May 23, 2020 in Singapore. This reassurance operation is an initiative by Covid-19 Migrant Support Coalition, a non-governmental group in Singapore.(Photo by Ore Huiying/Getty Images)
SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - MAY 23: A volunteer wearing protective face mask talks to a security guard at a factory converted dormitory on May 23, 2020 in Singapore. This reassurance operation is an initiative by Covid-19 Migrant Support Coalition, a non-governmental group in Singapore.(Photo by Ore Huiying/Getty Images)

SINGAPORE – The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed 344 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore as of Monday (25 May) noon, bringing the total to 31,960.

The lower number of cases today is partly due to fewer tests being conducted, the MOH said in a press release.

Of the cases, 338 are foreign workers living in dormitories while six are cases in the community. There are three Singaporeans and one permanent resident among the community cases.

As part of its proactive testing of preschool staff, the health ministry picked up three infected preschool employees. While two had not gone to work recently, one – a 25-year-old Singaporean woman – had been to Learning Vision @ NUHS.

From Monday, the MOH will provide a list of public places that confirmed cases in the community had visited for more than 30 minutes.

As a precautionary measure, the MOH said, “Persons who had been at these locations during the specified timings should monitor their health closely for 14 days from their date of visit.” They should see a doctor promptly if they develop symptoms of acute respiratory infection – such as cough, sore throat and runny nose – as well as fever and loss of taste or smell, and inform the doctor of their exposure history.

The locations and timings announced for Monday are below:

Public places visited by cases in the community during infectious period (Table: Ministry of Health)
Public places visited by cases in the community during infectious period (Table: Ministry of Health)

The list excludes residence, workplaces, healthcare facilities and public transport, and will be updated on a rolling 14-days basis.

The MOH did not announce any new cluster on Monday.

Dozens of clusters linked to foreign worker dorms have been identified thus far, including Singapore’s largest cluster of over 2,500 cases linked to S11 Dormitory@Punggol, followed by Sungei Tengah Lodge, Tuas View Dormitory and Jurong Penjuru Dormitory.

They are among the 25 dorms that have been gazetted as isolation areas. Some 400,000 foreign workers live in dorms here in Singapore.

Details of cases on 25 May (Table: Ministry of Health)
Details of cases on 25 May (Table: Ministry of Health)

Over 15,700 discharged in total

With 862 more cases of COVID-19 infection discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities, a total of 15,738 cases here have fully recovered from the infection, said the ministry on Monday.

There are currently 607 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Most of the hospitalised cases are stable or improving, while eight are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

A total of 15,592 cases with mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive, are isolated and cared for at community facilities.

Apart from 23 patients who have died from COVID-19 complications, nine others who tested positive for the virus have died from unrelated causes, including three whose deaths were attributed to a heart attack and two whose deaths were attributed to coronary heart disease.

“Only cases where the attending doctor or pathologist attributes the primary or underlying cause of death as due to COVID-19 infection will be added to the COVID-19 death count,” said the MOH in previous press releases, adding that the method of assessment is consistent with international practices for classifying deaths.

It had also noted that 86 male foreign workers aged 25 to 59 died due to heart disease in Singapore in 2018.

As of 18 May, the ministry has conducted 294,414 swab tests, of which 191,260 were done on unique individuals.

This translates to around 51,600 swabs conducted per 1 million total population, and about 33,500 unique individuals swabbed per 1 million total population.

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