SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday (May 13) announced 675 new cases of Covid-19, including a 48-year-old Singaporean linked to a cluster at CDPL Tuas Dormitory.

MOH said in a statement that the man — identified as Case 24,831 — experienced an onset of symptoms on May 10 but was thereafter deployed for operations duties at the dormitory located at 6 Tuas South Street 15.

It said his infection was confirmed on May 12 but did not specify what the man’s duties were. With his infection, there are now 309 confirmed cases in the cluster at the dormitory. 

MOH also identified six new clusters of infections. They are located at 3 Kian Teck Crescent, 119 Neythal Road, 1 Sungei Kadut Street 4, 1020 Tai Seng Avenue, 17C Tuas Road and 29 Tuas View Walk 2.

Separately, the health ministry also said that a record 958 patients have been discharged from hospitals or the community isolation facilities. In all, 4,809 people have fully recovered from the Covid-19 infection.

BREAKDOWN OF THE NEW CASES

Of the 675 new cases on Wednesday, MOH said that four were cases in the wider community. Of these, two were Singaporeans or permanent residents and two others were work-pass holders.

Besides the 48-year-old man from the CDPL Tuas Dormitory, the other Singaporean is a 73-year-old woman whom the health ministry has identified as a “local unlinked” case.

She had onset of symptoms on May 6 and her infection was confirmed on May 12.

The remaining cases — 671 infections in all — were linked to the foreign workers residing in the dormitories. No new cases were linked to those who are residing outside the dormitories.

MOH said that it continues to pick up many more cases amongst work permit holders residing in the dormitories, including in factory-converted dormitories, because of extensive testing in these premises, as part of its process to verify and test the status of all workers.

It added that of the new cases, 99 per cent are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.

There were no imported cases on Wednesday.

UPDATE ON THE REST OF THE CASES

MOH said that there are currently 1,037 confirmed cases who are still in hospital.

Of these, most are stable or improving, and 19 are in critical condition under intensive care.

The health ministry said that 19,479 patients are isolated and cared for at community facilities. These are those who have mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for Covid-19.

So far, 21 people have died from complications due to Covid-19 infection.