86-year-old woman dies of coronavirus, 5th such death in Singapore

The Straits Times understands that she was Case 918, one of the people in the cluster at Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home at 1 Thomson Lane. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

SINGAPORE - A fifth patient has died from the coronavirus infection here, the Ministry of Health announced on Friday (April 3).

The woman, an 86-year-old Singaporean, had no recent travel history to affected countries and regions.

The Straits Times understands that she was Case 918, one of the people in the cluster at Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home at 1 Thomson Lane.

She was admitted to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) on Tuesday, and was confirmed to have Covid-19 the same day.

She died from the infection at 1.55am on Friday.

The NCID is extending assistance to her family.

Four others have died from the disease since it first hit Singapore's shores on Jan 23. On March 21, a 75-year-old Singaporean woman and a 64-year-old Indonesian man died from the disease. The woman had a history of chronic heart disease and hypertension, while the man had a history of heart disease.

On Sunday, a 70-year-old Singaporean man, Mr Chung Ah Lay, died from Covid-19. He had a history of hypertension and hyperlipidaemia - or high cholesterol. He had no recent travel history to affected countries and regions.

The fourth person, a 68-year-old Indonesian man with a history of diabetes and hypertension, died on Thursday.

Seniors are particularly vulnerable to the virus. In the United States and France, nursing homes have been badly hit by the outbreak, with hundreds dying.

The Singapore Government had earlier announced that visitors would no longer be allowed at all nursing homes here from Thursday until the end of the month, after a cluster emerged at the Lee Ah Mooi home on Wednesday.

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