Yahoo News COVID-19: Singapore confirms 198 cases, 3 new clusters including ICA Building
SINGAPORE – Singapore on Friday (10 April) confirmed 198 more coronavirus cases and three new clusters, bringing the total number of infections to 2,108.
In a press statement, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said that these clusters are a dormitory at 31 Sungei Kadut Avenue, the ICA Building (10 Kallang Road) and a renovation site at the National University Hospital (5 Lower Kent Ridge Road).
Of the 198 new cases, 79 cases are linked to clusters at foreign worker dormitories and 48 are linked to non-dormitory clusters or other cases.
Some 71 cases are currently unlinked, pending contact tracing.
There are no imported cases.
Updates on clusters
Four of the earlier confirmed cases (Cases 1731, 1735, 1830 and 1831) have now been linked to a new cluster at a dormitory at 31 Sungei Kadut Avenue.
One of the newly confirmed cases (Case 1950) is linked to four previous cases (Cases 1553, 1650, 1698 and 1733), forming a new cluster at the ICA Building (10 Kallang Road).
Five of the newly confirmed cases (Cases 1913, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2053) are linked to nine previous cases (Cases 1146, 1478, 1563, 1665, 1724, 1725, 1834, 1837 and 1838), forming a new cluster at a renovation site at the National University Hospital (5 Lower Kent Ridge Road).
An additional 24 cases are linked to the cluster at S11 Dormitory @ Punggol (2 Seletar North Link), which has a total of 306 confirmed cases. It is Singapore’s largest COVID-19 cluster to date.
Some 20 more cases are linked to the cluster at Westlite Toh Guan dormitory (18 Toh Guan Road East), which has a total of 69 confirmed cases now.
Nine additional cases are linked to the cluster at Toh Guan Dormitory (19A Toh Guan Road East), which has a total of 34 confirmed cases now.
A total of 12 additional cases are linked to the cluster at Sungei Tengah Lodge (500 Old Choa Chu Kang Road), which has a total of 55 confirmed cases now.
Eleven more cases are linked to the cluster at Tampines Dormitory (2 Tampines Place), which has a total of 49 cases now.
Five additional cases are linked to the cluster at Cochrane Lodge I (51 Admiralty Road West), which has a total of 15 cases now.
Two additional cases are linked to the cluster at Cochrane Lodge II (49 Admiralty Road West), which has a total of seven cases now (Cases 956, 967, 1104, 1240, 1349, 1640 and 2093).
One additional case is linked to the cluster at a dormitory at 55 Sungei Kadut Loop, which has a total of seven cases now (Cases 868, 972, 974, 1356, 1510, 1549 and 2085).
One more case is linked to the cluster at Shaw Lodge (12 Shaw Road), which has a total of six confirmed cases now (Cases 1379, 1380, 1556, 1558, 1564 and 1926).
Four additional cases are linked to the cluster at a construction site at Project Glory (50 Market Street), which has a total of 41 confirmed cases now.
Eight additional cases are linked to the cluster at Mustafa Centre (145 Syed Alwi Road), which has a total of 65 confirmed cases now.
Four additional cases are linked to the cluster at Keppel Shipyard (51 Pioneer Sector 1), which has a total of 21 cases now.
Two additional cases are linked to the cluster at Dover Court International School (301 Dover Road), which has a total of 11 confirmed cases now.
One additional case is linked to the cluster at The Wedding Brocade (1 Yishun Industrial Street 1), which has a total of four cases now.
Contact tracing is underway for unlinked cases to establish any links to previous cases or travel history to affected countries or regions.
Seventh death from COVID-19 complications
Singapore has recorded a seventh death due to COVID-19.
Case 987, an 86-year-old female Singaporean, died from complications due to COVID-19 infection on Thursday night. She is linked to the cluster at the Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home.
She was admitted to NCID on 1 April, and was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on the same day. NCID has reached out to her family and is extending assistance to them.
Cases from the public healthcare sector
Cases 1842 and 1962
They are both 26-year-old female Singaporeans who have no recent travel history to affected countries or regions, and are close contacts. Both cases are doctors at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
Case 1842 reported onset of symptoms on 8 April, and subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 9 April. Case 1962 reported onset of symptoms on 7 April, and was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on 10 April.
They are currently warded at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID). Prior to hospital admission, they had gone to work but only had transient contact with patients.
Case 1943
She is a 35-year-old Singaporean who has no recent travel history to affected countries or regions. She reported onset of symptoms on 4 April, and subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on 9 April.
She is currently warded in an isolation room at Sengkang General Hospital. She is employed as a patient service associate at Hougang Polyclinic but had not gone to work since onset of symptoms.
32 patients in intensive care
The ministry also announced that 32 more patients have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 492 cases have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged.
Most of the 875 remaining hospitalised cases are stable or improving, while 32 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
A total of 734 cases – clinically well but still test positive for the virus – are isolated and cared for at Concord International Hospital, Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Gleneagles Hospital, Mount Alvernia Hospital, Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital and the Community Isolation Facility at D’Resort NTUC.
Seven here have died from complications due to the virus.
As of Friday noon, the MOH has identified 22,674 close contacts who have been quarantined. Of these, 7,723 are currently quarantined, and 14,951 have completed their quarantine.
Measures to combat spread of coronavirus
On Tuesday, the government passed the COVID-19 Temporary Measures Bill in Parliament, giving it the legal basis to enforce the enhanced safe distancing measures that began on the same day and will last till 4 May.
Part of these “circuit breaker” measures – announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last Friday – include the closure of schools and most workplaces. Lee also said that Singapore will no longer discourage the public from wearing face masks.
Only essential services like food establishments, markets and supermarkets, transport, and key banking services will remain open during the month-long closure.
Separately, all Singapore residents and long-term pass holders returning from overseas apart from Hubei province must serve the 14-day stay-home notice, while those returning from Hubei must serve a 14-day quarantine. All short-term visitors are barred from entering or transiting via Singapore.
Anyone who flouts the 14-day stay-home notice by leaving the place of accommodation or residence they are serving the notice in will be subjected to steep penalties.
Patients who flout their five-day medical leave can face steep penalties such as a fine of up to $10,000 or a maximum jail term of six months, or both, according to the Infectious Diseases Act.
The same penalties also apply to those who intentionally sit on a seat or stand in a queue less than one metre away from another person in public venues.
Those on five-day sick leave or serving a stay-home notice must also wear a mask if they have to leave their place of accommodation to seek emergency medical treatment.
On Monday, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announced an additional $5.1 billion Solidarity Budget to help businesses and households.
The government’s response to COVID-19 will total $59.9 billion, or about 12 per cent of Singapore’s gross domestic product.
Earlier on the Good Friday public holiday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong appealed to the public, especially the older generation, to stay at home during the circuit breaker period.
Over 1.6m cases globally
To date, there are more than 1.6 million COVID-19 cases globally.
Over 97,000 have died from the virus, with Italy and Spain accounting for close to 40 per cent of the total.
At over 469,000 cases, the US now holds the record of having the largest number of patients globally, followed by Spain at over 157,000 cases, Italy at over 143,000, followed by Germany at over 118,000.
China, where the virus originated, has close to 82,000 cases and on Tuesday reported no new coronavirus deaths for the first time since it started publishing figures in January.
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