Covid-19: Highest daily tally of 447 new cases in Singapore, including 404 infections in foreign worker dorms

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday (April 15) announced 447 more cases of Covid-19 in the country, bringing the total number of infections here to 3,699.

It is the highest single-day jump in infections here, the previous high being the 386 cases reported on Monday.

In its media statement, MOH said that it had also identified four new clusters of infections: A dormitory at 10 Kian Teck Crescent and Kian Teck Dormitory at 26 Kian Teck Avenue, both in Jurong West; a building of shophouses at 234 Balestier Road; and Mandai Lodge dormitory at 460 Mandai Road.

MOH said that for the past five days, the country has not seen any new imported cases, including Wednesday.

Of the 447 new cases, 38 are local cases in the community. Of the remaining cases, five are work permit holders residing outside of dormitories while 404 are work permit holders residing in dormitories.

MOH said: “The number of new cases among work permit holders has increased significantly, from an average of 48 cases a day in the week before, to 260 cases a day in the past week, especially with our ongoing efforts to undertake more active testing of the workers. The vast majority of them are residing in dormitories.” 

The ministry added that of the new cases, 68 per cent are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.

The S-11 Dormitory in Punggol, the largest cluster here, now has 797 confirmed cases of Covid-19.

To date, 652 patients have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged, including the 41 discharged on Wednesday.

Of the 1,496 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving.

Twenty-six are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

There are 1,540 cases who are clinically well but still test positive for Covid-19 and they are isolated and cared for at community facilities.

Ten patients have died from complications due to Covid-19.

MOH also said that Case 3381, an 80-year-old Malaysian man, died on April 14 from causes not related to Covid-19 infection.

“Under MOH’s enhanced surveillance, he had been tested for Covid-19 after his demise, and his test result came back positive,” it said.

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