SINGAPORE: A total of 958 patients were discharged on Wednesday (May 13) after recovering from COVID-19, a new daily high, and more than the number of new cases reported in a single day.
In all, 4,809 have fully recovered from COVID-19 and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in a press release.
A total of 675 new infections were reported on Wednesday.
READ: Singapore’s COVID-19 cases exceed 25,000; new daily high of 958 patients discharged
This is not the first time Singapore has reported more discharged cases than new patients in a single day.
On Monday, MOH reported 486 new COVID-19 cases with 504 more patients discharged. However, the number of new cases was lower on that day because fewer tests had been processed, as one of the laboratories was recalibrating its apparatus for one of the test kits, said MOH.
MOST CASES STABLE OR IMPROVING: MOH
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong on Tuesday said that 20,000 migrant workers who have COVID-19 are expected to be ready to be discharged by the end of May.
Speaking at a press conference, he said that the number of migrant workers who have COVID-19 is likely to “remain high for some time” while “aggressive” testing is carried out to progressively clear those living in dormitories so that they can safely return to work.
Singapore is testing about 3,000 people living in the dormitories a day, but officials are looking to increase this number over the coming weeks.
In Wednesday’s report, MOH said that there are currently 1,037 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Most are stable or improving, while 19 are in a critical condition in the intensive care unit.
A total of 19,479 patients are isolated and cared for at community facilities, MOH said. These are cases who have mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19.
MAJORITY OF NEW CASES ARE WORK PERMIT HOLDERS IN DORMS
Of the 675 new cases, 671 are work permit holders residing in foreign worker dormitories.
MOH said it continues to pick up many more cases among work permit holders residing in 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.
READ: For mum of 7 with husband fighting COVID-19 in ICU, home quarantine is an anxious but tight-knit affair
Four new cases were also reported in the community – two Singaporeans, including a 73-year-old woman who is currently an unlinked case.
The other case, a 48-year-old man, had been deployed for operations duties at CDPL Tuas Dormitory. The dormitory at 6 Tuas South Street 15 is a COVID-19 cluster that currently has a total of 309 confirmed cases.
The two other community cases are work pass holders.
MOH said the number of new cases in the community has decreased, from an average of eight cases per day in the week before, to an average of six per day in the past week.
Of the new cases, 99 per cent are linked to known clusters while the rest are pending contact tracing.
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