Coronavirus pandemic

Singapore reports 25th death from Covid-19 complications

41-year-old male Chinese national dies more than 2 weeks after recovering from infection

This brings the total number of deaths from complications due to Covid-19 infection to 25. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

A 41-year-old male Chinese national who recovered from the coronavirus has died from complications, more than two weeks after being discharged.

This brings the total number of deaths from complications due to Covid-19 infection to 25.

The patient, whom the Ministry of Health (MOH) identified as Case 11,714, recovered from the infection and was discharged on May 17.

But he collapsed last Thursday, and the coroner has certified the cause of death as massive pulmonary thromboembolism following the infection, MOH said last night.

MOH also said that a 51-year-old Singaporean man working as a cleaner in the pre-school section of Sir Manasseh Meyer International School was among seven new community infections. He was tested as part of the proactive screening of pre-school staff.

Another new infection involves a 27-year-old Singaporean man who works as a physiotherapist at Tampines Polyclinic. He had no recent travel history to affected countries or regions, and had not gone to work since the onset of symptoms last Wednesday. He is now warded at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

The third case is a 42-year-old permanent resident who is a family member of a previously confirmed case. He had already been quarantined earlier.

The remaining community cases are four work permit holders, said MOH. Three were tested as part of efforts to screen workers in essential services, while one was tested as part of the screening of migrant workers deployed at public healthcare institutions.

The fourth case had been doing building maintenance works at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital and had not interacted with hospital staff or patients.

Foreign workers staying in dormitories made up 337 of the new coronavirus cases, bringing the country's total to 37,527. Over one in 10 among this group have now tested positive for the virus.

There were no imported cases, and 98 per cent of the new cases are linked to known clusters.

  • Update on cases

  • New cases: 344

    Imported: 0

    In community: 7 (3 Singaporeans/PRs; 4 work permit holders)

    In dormitories: 337

  • Active cases: 12,943

    In hospitals: 308 (4 in ICU)

    In community facilities: 12,635

  • Deaths: 25

    Patients with Covid-19 who died from other causes: 9

    Total discharged: 24,550

    Discharged yesterday: 350

    TOTAL CASES: 37,527

Two new clusters in dormitories have emerged, one in Beyond Tuas South Boulevard and the other at 10 Kwong Min Road.

MOH closed a cluster at the construction site at 15 Serangoon North Avenue 1 after no new cases were linked to it for two incubation periods of the virus, or 28 days.

MOH also added Hougang Mall's FairPrice supermarket to the list of places visited by community cases. A confirmed case had visited the mall between 11.10am and noon on May 30.

Other places visited by community cases while they were infected included wet markets, supermarkets, hawker centres, and malls such as Jurong Point.

The full list of places, with the dates and times when the locations were visited by the patients, is on MOH's website.

While there is no need to avoid these places, those who have gone to them should monitor their health closely for 14 days from the date they visited, said MOH, adding that they should visit a doctor promptly if they develop fever, respiratory symptoms, or loss of taste or smell.

Those who were identified as close contacts of confirmed cases would already have been notified by MOH, said the ministry.

The daily average for new community cases has increased to seven in the past week from five the week before, said MOH. Across the same period, the number of unlinked cases has remained stable at an average of two a day.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on June 07, 2020, with the headline Singapore reports 25th death from Covid-19 complications. Subscribe