SINGAPORE: The number of COVID-19 cases in Singapore reached nearly 30,000 on Thursday (May 21), with 448 new cases reported as of noon.

This brings the total number of cases in the country to 29,812.

A 73-year-old Singaporean man – Case 4689 – died from complications due to COVID-19 on Thursday. He is the 23rd person to die from the coronavirus in Singapore.

He had tested positive for COVID-19 on Apr 17 and had a history of hypertension, hyperlipidaemia and hypothyroidism.

“The National Centre for Infectious Diseases has reached out to his family and is extending assistance to them,” the Ministry of Health (MOH) said.

A total of 14 new community cases were reported, including 13 Singaporeans or permanent residents. One is a work permit holder.

“Of these, seven cases were picked up from our active surveillance and screening of nursing home residents and pre-school staff, and four are part of a family cluster linked to a dormitory.

“Epidemiological investigations are ongoing for the other two cases,” the ministry said.

A total of three new cases were staff members at pre-schools. 

Two had gone to work after the onset of symptoms. A 40-year-old Singaporean woman went to work at My First Skool @ 303 Canberra and a 58-year-old Singaporean woman went to work at PCF Sparkletots Preschool @ Gambas.

The third woman, a 34-year-old Singaporean, did not go to work after experiencing symptoms. MOH did not say where she worked.

READ: 3 pre-school employees contract COVID-19, leave of absence issued to ‘small group’ of children, staff

Four of the newly confirmed cases are linked to a new cluster at Orange Valley Nursing Home in 6 Simei Street 3, where they are all residents. 

The four residents are Singaporean women aged between 72 and 97 years old. They all tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday.

FAMILY LINKED TO DORMITORY CLUSTER

Four of the Singaporean COVID-19 patients announced by MOH on Thursday are family members of a man who had gone to work at Cochrane Lodge II dormitory in Admiralty after the onset of symptoms.

All four are also household contacts of Case 28271, the Singaporean woman who went to work at Bishan MRT station after the onset of symptoms. 

Five household contacts of the woman, an SMRT service ambassador for the Circle Line, have now tested positive for COVID-19. Earlier this week, a 30-year-old man linked to the woman had contracted the disease.

Within this family, the Singaporean who went to work at Cochrane Lodge II is a 62-year-old man. He tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday.

“The number of new cases in the community has decreased, from an average of seven cases per day in the week before, to an average of six per day in the past week,” MOH added. 

The number of unlinked cases in the community has remained unchanged, at an average of two per day in the past two weeks.

910 MORE PATIENTS DISCHARGED

Of the 448 new cases, 434 are foreign workers living in dormitories, MOH said.

“We continue to pick up many cases among work permit holders residing in dormitories, including in factory-converted dormitories, because of extensive testing in these premises, as part of our process to verify and test the status of all workers.”

MOH said 99 per cent of the new cases are linked to known clusters while the rest are pending contact tracing. Further details can be found in the ministry’s daily situation report.

The ministry added that it has been monitoring existing clusters for any further transmission. 

Three clusters were closed as there have been no more cases linked to them for 28 days. They are Natureland East Coast, Wing Fong Court and 112 Neythal Road.

Another 910 COVID-19 patients have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 12,117 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.

A total of 16,771 patients are isolated and cared for at community facilities. These are people who have mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19. 

READ: Singapore to gradually reopen borders, plans to resume essential travel among countries with low COVID-19 transmission rate

On Wednesday, MOH said COVID-19 cases among work permit holders living outside dormitories have been added to the daily count of community cases. These cases were previously listed under a separate category.

A large number of work permit holders were placed on mandatory stay-home notices, but the notices have since expired.

“Hence we have now updated the definition of ‘cases in the community’ to include all cases (including among work permit holders) who are detected outside of the dormitories,” said the ministry.

READ: Transition to a ‘new normal’ after circuit breaker: How will measures be lifted beyond Phase 1?

Singapore will exit its “circuit breaker” period as planned on Jun 1, with measures to be progressively lifted in three phases from the following day.

The country will also gradually reopen its borders to allow Singaporeans to conduct essential activities abroad and for foreigners to enter and transit through the country.

Travellers will be allowed to transit through Changi Airport from Jun 2, with measures in place to ensure that passengers remain in designated facilities in the transit area. 

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SINGAPORE: The Government cannot make attendance at school “voluntary” as such a system is not good for the morale of both students and teachers, said Education Minister Ong Ye Kung on Thursday (May 21).

In a post on Facebook, Mr Ong addressed some parents’ concerns about schools resuming classes on Jun 2, saying that exceptions can only be made for “specific concerns arising from medical conditions”.

Singapore is set to exit its “circuit breaker” period on Jun 1, with measures to be progressively lifted in three phases from the next day.

Graduating students at primary and secondary schools – or those in Primary 6 and Secondary 4 and 5 – will resume classes on weekdays when Term 3 begins on Jun 2.

Students in other cohorts – or those in Primary 1 to 5 and Secondary 1 to 3 – will rotate weekly between home-based learning and returning to school for lessons. 

For pre-schools, children in Kindergarten 1 and 2 will be allowed to return from Jun 2, followed by those in Nursery 1 and 2 on Jun 8 and infant care and playgroup on Jun 10. 

“It is likely that COVID-19 will stay with us for more than a year, and until a vaccine is available.

“We simply cannot keep our children at home for so long,” said Mr Ong, adding that it would seriously impact their socio-emotional and mental well-being. 

After having brought community transmissions to a “low and controlled level”, school should resume with “many precautions”, he wrote.

A voluntary system where parents decide whether or not to send their children to school would not be good for the morale of both students and teachers, Mr Ong said.

Such a set-up would segregate students according to those whose families are able to provide care for them at home, and those who are not, he said.

“Teachers will end up having to juggle between classroom teaching and facilitating HBL (home-based learning) for every lesson, which is not sustainable,” said Mr Ong.

Additionally, keeping children away from school “does not guarantee” that they will be safe from COVID-19, said Mr Ong.

“Family members have to go to work, and a large proportion of transmission to children has been from their family members, he said.

FACE SHIELDS FOR PRESCHOOL AND PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

To keep students safe, arrangements will be made for face shields to be distributed to all pre-school and primary school students when the term begins.

Students can wear either a face mask or a face shield when in school or on campus. 

“Teachers will help the young children get used to the masks or shields with time. If there are special circumstances, teachers will also exercise flexibility,” Mr Ong said.

Parents who are unable to make suitable childcare arrangements with their children going to school on alternating weeks can approach their child’s school for assistance, he said.

Schools will be prepared to extend limited care to young students on home-based learning, but without childcare arrangements, said Mr Ong.

READ: Plastic face shields can be used in public, but should be worn with masks to be effective, say experts

Singapore has been actively testing all pre-school and early intervention staff members, in order to reduce the risk of transmission when centres resume full services. About 30,000 staff are expected to be swabbed by May 26.

To date, about 10,400 pre-school staff members have so far tested negative for the coronavirus.

On Thursday, Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) announced that three pre-school staff members had tested positive for COVID-19.

Two of the cases had gone to work after experiencing the onset of symptoms, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its daily update.

The first – case 29513 – is a 40-year-old Singaporean woman who went to work at My First Skool @ 303 Canberra after experiencing onset of symptoms on Tuesday. 

Case 29514, a 58-year-old Singaporean woman, had gone to work at PCF Sparkletots Pre-school @ Gambas after experiencing onset of symptoms, although MOH did not specify when.

The third case, a 34-year-old Singaporean woman, did not go to work after the onset of symptoms. MOH did not say where she works.

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SINGAPORE: Singapore residents will be able to collect improved reusable face masks from next Tuesday (May 26), as part of the country’s third mask distribution exercise.

Residents can collect their masks from 24-hour vending machines at all community clubs until Jun 14, said the People’s Association in a media release on Thursday. 

Masks will also be available from community club and residents’ committee counters from May 26 to Jun 1.

This will be Singapore’s third nationwide distribution of masks, and the cloth face coverings will have better bacterial filtration capabilities than those from previous distributions.

READ: Singapore to distribute ‘better’ reusable face masks to households

The masks will have at least three layers of material and boast a bacterial filtration efficiency of at least 95 per cent even after 30 washes, said the People’s Association.

“New materials have also been used for these masks to improve their resistance to droplets and comfort for the users,” it said.

Both adult-sized and child-sized masks will be available, but only identity documents for children aged 12 years and under may be used to collect child-sized masks. 

Adult-sized masks are available for all, but each person may only receive one mask per valid identification card.

All Singapore residents with a valid identification card – including foreign domestic workers, foreign workers who are not living in dormitories and international students living in hostels – are eligible for the masks, said the People’s Association. 

Masks for foreign workers living in dormitories will be distributed via the Ministry of Manpower. 

To avoid having people crowding at collection points, the People’s Association advised having one family member to collect masks on behalf of their household. 

This person will have to bring along each household member’s Government-issued identification document (with barcode).

Collection points will have safe distancing and hygiene measures to protect residents, volunteers and staff members, said the People’s Association.

This includes the implementation of temperature-taking as well as cleaning and restocking vending machines regularly. All high-touch areas on the vending machines are also treated with a self-disinfecting coating which can last for three months.

Provided by Temasek Foundation, the 24-hour vending machines will have instructions in four different languages to guide residents through the mask collection process. They will be operational from 10am on May 26.

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Members of the public can visit the MaskGoWhere website to get more information, or to check the availability of masks in the vending machines.

Around 150 Singapore Armed Forces servicemen and about 40 military vehicles were involved in the mask distribution exercise, said the People’s Association.

They assisted in breaking bulk and transporting the masks to community clubs across the island.

The exercise is also supported by RedeemSG, a mobile app system developed by Open Government Products, a division under GovTech. 

The app allows users to track the redemption of goods, vouchers and tickets, and will help record who has redeemed their mask “to ensure that every resident is able to receive their mask allocation”, said the People’s Association.

READ: Singapore households to get 4 face masks each amid worries over Wuhan virus

Singapore’s third mask distribution exercise was announced by Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing on May 6. 

It follows the Government’s first distribution of four surgical masks to each household in February and another distribution of reusable cloth masks last month.

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