SINGAPORE - A 73-year-old Singaporean man died on Friday (June 12) from complications due to the coronavirus.
The patient, identified as Case 161, was confirmed with Covid-19 on March 9, and had a history of hypertension, hyperlipidaemia and chronic kidney disease. The man is linked to the cluster involving the private dinner function at Safra Jurong.
This brings the total number of deaths from complications due to Covid-19 to 26.
The National Centre for Infectious Diseases has reached out to his family and is extending assistance to them, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Saturday in its latest daily update on infection numbers.
Singapore reported 347 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, bringing the total number of infections past the 40,000 mark. There were five community cases: two Singaporeans and three work permit holders.
These include a 15-year-old Singaporean girl, who is unlinked to previous cases. The St Anthony's Canossian Secondary student was tested as part of the ministry's proactive testing of students with acute respiratory infection.
Her serological test result came back positive on June 12, which is indicative of a past infection, said MOH.
"The epidemiological evidence suggests that she was likely to have been infected during the circuit breaker period, and not after school reopening," said the ministry.
The other Singaporean case is a 67-year-old woman who works at the SCM Tuas Lodge dormitory.
The new cases bring the total number of Covid-19 cases in Singapore to 40,197.
New daily community cases have gone up, from an average of seven two weeks ago to eight in the past week. The average daily number of unlinked patients in the community has also risen from two to four over the same period.
MOH said this is partly due to its active surveillance and screening of targeted groups, which have picked up more cases in the past week.
The remaining 342 people confirmed with the coronavirus on Saturday are migrant workers staying in dormitories.
In the past week, MOH has uncovered links for 10 previously unlinked cases.
Six places - Geylang Serai Market, The Poiz Centre, Boon Lay Shopping Centre, 18 Marsiling Lane, as well as Sheng Siong supermarkets at New World Centre and 301 Geylang Road - were added on Saturday to the list of public places visited by Covid-19 patients while they were still infectious.
The ministry urged those who were there during the specified times to monitor their health for two weeks from their date of visit.
Close contacts of the confirmed patients have already been notified, and there is no need for the public to avoid these places as they would have been cleaned and disinfected if needed, MOH said.
One new cluster was also announced at a dormitory at 50 Tech Park Crescent.
The Space @ Tuas Apartment cluster at 16 Tuas Avenue 1 has been closed as there were no new cases in the past 28 days, or two incubation periods.
With 768 more patients discharged on Saturday, 28,798 have fully recovered from the coronavirus.
A total of 228 patients remain in hospital, including one in intensive care, while 11,135 are recuperating in community facilities. The number of active cases is about 28 per cent of the total number reported here.
Ten people have died of other causes while testing positive for the coronavirus.
