Coronavirus pandemic

Singapore reports 22nd Covid-19 death; 1,094 discharged

Dorm inspector one of four Singaporeans among 465 new cases

A 67-year-old male Singaporean died on May 15 from complications due to Covid-19 infection. PHOTO: LIANHE WANBAO

Updated

Published

May 17, 2020, 05:00 AM

A 67-year-old male Singaporean died on Friday from complications due to Covid-19 infection, bringing the total number of deaths here to 22.

According to the Ministry of Health (MOH) yesterday, the man was confirmed to have Covid-19 infection on April 7, and had a history of ischaemic heart disease, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia.

Sengkang General Hospital has reached out to his family and is extending assistance to them, MOH said.

A total of 465 new Covid-19 cases were reported by MOH yesterday, bringing the total case count to 27,356.

A total of 1,094 cases were discharged yesterday. This was only the third time since the first case was reported in January that daily discharge figures had exceeded 1,000.

MOH also announced three new clusters yesterday: 9 Sungei Kadut Way, 7 Tech Park Crescent, and 137 Tuas View Square.

MOH said the lower number of cases reported yesterday was partly due to fewer tests being processed as one testing laboratory is reviewing its processes following an earlier apparatus calibration issue, and will need time to ramp up its testing capacity.

Of the new cases, only four were Singaporeans, including a 31-year-old male dormitory inspector.

The other three cases comprise a 54-year-old man who works at Cochrane Lodge II and his household contacts who are both women.

Of the remaining new cases, one was a work pass holder, while three were work permit holders residing outside dormitories.

The other 457 were foreign workers staying in dormitories.

There were no imported cases.

For Singaporeans, permanent residents (PRs) and long-term pass holders, the daily average number of cases has fallen from nine cases two weeks ago to three in the past week.

The corresponding figure for work permit holders staying outside dormitories has also decreased from four cases two weeks ago to two in the past week.

Fewer cases are now unlinked among Singaporeans, PRs and pass holders - a dip from a daily average of three cases two weeks ago to one in the past week.

Of the new cases, only 1 per cent was unlinked, and contact tracing is ongoing.

To date, 8,342 people have fully recovered from the disease since the first case was reported on Jan 23.

There are currently 1,111 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, 16 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit, while 17,881 are in community facilities and have only mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive for Covid-19.

While 22 people have so far died from complications due to Covid-19, nine others who tested positive for the virus died from other causes.

The coronavirus outbreak began in December last year, and has infected more than 4.6 million people and killed more than 310,000 people worldwide.