Singapore Expo volunteer among 573 new Covid-19 cases in the country; 3 new clusters found

SINGAPORE — Singapore confirmed 573 new cases of Covid-19 on Monday (May 4), the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a statement, among whom is a 52-year-old woman who worked as a healthcare volunteer at the community care facility at Singapore Expo.

It also found three new clusters. They are at Hai Leck Engineering at 9 Tuas Avenue 1, Melody Springs construction site at 477A Yishun Street 44 and 6 Tuas Basin Link.

The total number of cases here stands at 18,778.

Of the 573 new cases, five of those infected are Singaporeans or permanent residents, while eight are foreign workers residing outside of dormitories and 560 are work permit holders residing in dormitories.

All in all, 89 per cent are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.

In its press release sent on Monday night, the MOH also highlighted two other cases from the public healthcare sector, apart from the 52-year-old Singapore Expo healthcare volunteer who was confirmed to have Covid-19 on Monday and is currently warded at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).

They are a 33-year-old woman who had gone to work as a facilities manager at NCID and was later tested positive on Sunday at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, and a 32-year-old woman who had been at work for a few hours as a doctor at the Changi General Hospital (CGH) prior to her admission to the same hospital where she was tested positive on Sunday. The three healthcare workers are Singapore citizens.

The MOH, meanwhile, stated the number of new cases in the community has decreased, from an average of 20 cases per day in the week before, to an average of nine per day in the past week.

The number of unlinked cases in the community has also decreased, from an average of 12 cases per day in the week before, to an average of four per day in the past week, it added. “We will continue to closely monitor these numbers, as well as the cases detected through our surveillance programme.”

As for work permit holders residing outside dormitories, the number of new cases has decreased, from an average of 22 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 13 per day in the past week.

Cases in dormitories, including in factory-converted ones, continued to pick up, however, due to “extensive testing” in those premises, said MOH.

UPDATE ON CONDITION OF CONFIRMED CASES

Currently, there are 1,491 Covid-19 carriers who are still in hospital, the MOH said in the update. A total of 49 more cases have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. Of these, most are stable and improving, while 25 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

Separately, 15,812 individuals who only displayed mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still tested positive for Covid-19, are isolated and cared for at community facilities.

MOH’s contact tracing efforts had, meanwhile, uncovered links for 798 previously unlinked cases in the April 27 to May 3 week.

They include five additional cases that are linked to the largest cluster here at S11 Dormitory @ Punggol, which now has a total of 2,510 confirmed cases.

There are also 23 additional cases linked to the cluster at Tuas View Dormitory, which now has a total of 1,047 confirmed cases, and 15 additional cases linked to the cluster at Sungei Tengah Lodge, which now has a total of 1,002 confirmed cases.