SINGAPORE - Five new clusters of the coronavirus were reported in Singapore on Sunday (April 19), as another 596 cases were confirmed with hundreds related to foreign worker dormitories.
The new clusters are detected at Woodlands Lodge I, Changi Lodge II, 51 Paya Ubi Industrial Park, 17 Jalan Besut and Sembawang Shipyard.
Of the 596 new cases, 544 were work permit holders residing in dormitories. Only 25 are Singaporeans or permanent residents. There were no imported cases.
There have been 26 more cases discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 768 have fully recovered and been discharged.
Of the new cases, 68 per cent are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.
The number of new cases in the community has fallen, from an average of 37 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 31 per day in the past week.
But there are slightly more unlinked cases in the community at an average of 22 per day in the past week, up from an average of 18 cases per day in the week before.
Singapore now has the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in South-east Asia at 6,588 cases, overtaking Indonesia at 6,575 and the Philippines at 6,259.
In the past week, MOH has uncovered links for 528 previously unlinked cases.
Cases in the public healthcare sector include Case 4556, a Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) nurse, 32, who has no recent travel history to affected countries or regions. She reported onset of symptoms on April 13 and was confirmed to have Covid-19 on April 17. She is now warded at KTPH.
A five-year-old who attended childcare centre Little Treasures Childcare in Woodlands also tested positive. The child was last in the centre on April 7, and was quarantined after a family member was found to have contracted the coronavirus on April 13.
The Early Childhood Development Agency has directed that the centre be temporarily closed from April 20 to 21. All affected staff and children will be placed on a Leave of Absence during the closure. Barring any new developments, the centre will resume limited services on April 22 to cater to parents who are working in essential services and are unable to extend their alternative care arrangements beyond the closure period.
The centre has conducted a thorough cleaning and disinfection of the pre-school premises and is closely monitoring its staff and parents on the health of their children.
Of the 2,921 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving while 22 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit. There are 2,888 cases who are clinically well but still test positive for Covid-19. They are being isolated and cared for at community facilities.
MOH said that of the work permit holders who have been infected, most are young, have a mild illness and are being monitored in the community isolation facilities or general wards of hospitals. None is in the intensive care unit.
A total of 11 people have died from Covid-19 related complications in Singapore.
