3 more Covid-19 deaths bring tally to 65; new cases cross 1,000 mark again

Three Singaporeans have died of Covid-19 complications, taking the Republic's death toll from the coronavirus to 65, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said yesterday.

One of them was a 62-year-old Singaporean woman who died on Monday after a prolonged stay in hospital. She had tested positive for Covid-19 on July 23 and was admitted to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital the next day.

She had not been vaccinated against Covid-19 and had a history of high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

The second fatality was a 74-year-old man, who died on Sunday.

He was admitted to Tan Tock Seng Hospital on Aug 31 for an unrelated medical condition and tested negative for Covid-19 upon admission.

But another test taken on Sept 9 came back positive for Covid-19. He had been partially vaccinated, and had a history of chronic kidney disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

The third person was an 83-year-old Singaporean man, who died on Monday.

He was taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital last Wednesday with symptoms, and tested positive for Covid-19 that day.

He had been vaccinated, and had a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia. Those conditions and his advanced age made him more susceptible to severe illness, said MOH.

There were a total of 1,178 new Covid-19 cases reported in Singapore yesterday, said MOH.

This is the third time in four days that the daily number has exceeded 1,000 new cases.

There were 837 cases on Tuesday.

Of the local cases reported yesterday, 1,038 were in the community and 135 were among dormitory residents. Of the local cases, 311 were seniors above 60 years old.

The remaining five cases were imported.

Three new cases were added to the cluster at Windsor Convalescent Home, a nursing home in Queenstown, bringing the total number of cases to 21. Transmission had occurred among residents and staff.

Of the 21 cases, 19 are residents and two are staff. The new cases were already quarantined.

Five new cases were also added to the cluster at nursery school My Little Campus in Yishun, bringing the total number of cases to 24.

Transmission had occurred among staff and children in the school. Two were staff, 20 were pupils and two were household members of cases.

Five new cases were added to the cluster at Pfizer Asia Pacific, a pharmaceutical company with operations in Tuas. This brings the total number of cases in this cluster to 37.

MOH said workplace transmission at the company had occurred, with no evidence of spread beyond the work premises.

Of the 37 cases, 35 were employees and two were household contacts of cases.

There are currently 1,109 Covid-19 patients hospitalised, up from 1,055 the day before.

There are 147 cases of serious illness requiring oxygen supplementation, and 17 in critical condition in the intensive care unit. Of those who have fallen very ill, 135 are seniors above 60 years old.

The total number of Covid-19 infections in Singapore now stands at 79,899.