SINGAPORE: Five new cases of COVID-19 in Singapore have been confirmed, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Thursday (Mar 5), with a new cluster at SAFRA Jurong reported. 

One of the new cases is an imported case while the rest are part of a cluster involving a private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong on Feb 15, said MOH in the media release. 

MOH added that another four previously confirmed cases – cases 94, 96, 107 and 112 – are also linked to the dinner. 

Case 96 is the 12-year-old Singaporean student at Raffles Institution who is a family member of Case 94. 

To date, there are 117 cases of the coronavirus in Singapore.  

Another two more patients – cases 71 and 98 – were also discharged, said MOH. This brings the total number of discharged cases to 81. Case 71 is linked to the Grace Assembly of God Church cluster while Case 98 is linked to the Wizlearn cluster.

Explore our interactive: All the COVID-19 cases in Singapore and the clusters and links between them

Of the 36 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving. Seven are in critical condition in the intensive care unit, said MOH. 

NEW CASES

CASE 113 – IMPORTED CASE

Case 113 is a 42-year-old French national who is a Singapore Work Pass holder. He has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions but had been in France, Portugal and the UK between Feb 8 and Mar 3.

He is currently warded in an isolation room at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).

He reported onset of symptoms on Mar 3 during his flight on Turkish Airlines from Istanbul to Singapore and went to NCID on Mar 4. Subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on Mar 4 afternoon.

Prior to hospital admission, he had visited Gleneagles Hospital for an unrelated matter. He lives in the Mount Sophia area.

READ: Passenger on Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul tests positive for COVID-19 in Singapore

Earlier on Thursday, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said that three pilots and 11 crew members who had arrived in Singapore onboard the Turkish Airlines flight – TK54 – departed for Istanbul at 2.08am on board a ferry flight with no passengers on the plane.

The crew members had come into close contact with the infected passenger and the crew will be quarantined when they arrive in Istanbul.

CASE 114 – SAFRA JURONG CLUSTER

Case 114 is a 62-year-old Singaporean man who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. He is warded in an isolation room at the National University Hospital (NUH). 

He is a family member of Case 115, and is linked to the SAFRA Jurong cluster.

He reported onset of symptoms on Feb 28 and had sought treatment at a general practitioner (GP) clinic on Feb 29. He went to the emergency department at NUH on Mar 3 and tested postive on Mar 4 afternoon.

Prior to hospital admission, he had mostly stayed at his home in the Westwood Avenue area.

CASE 115 – SAFRA JURONG CLUSTER

Case 115 is a 62-year-old Singaporean woman who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. 

She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on Mar 5 morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at NUH. 

She is a family member of Case 114, and is linked to the SAFRA Jurong cluster.

CASE 116 – SAFRA JURONG CLUSTER

Case 116 is a 50-year-old Singaporean woman also linked to the SAFRA Jurong cluster. She has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. 

She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on Mar 5 morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.

CASE 117 – SAFRA JURONG CLUSTER

Case 117 is a 52-year-old Singaporean woman who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions but had been in Malaysia on Mar 1. She is linked to the SAFRA Jurong cluster.

She was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on Mar 5 morning and is currently warded in an isolation room at NCID.

UPDATES ON PREVIOUS CASES

MOH said that Case 112, a 62-year-old Singaporean woman who is an assistant cook at a pre-school, is also linked to the new cluster.

She reported onset of symptoms on Feb 21 and had sought treatment at Bukit Batok Polyclinic on the same day and on Feb 25, as well as three GP clinics on Feb 21, Feb 23, Feb 27 and Mar 1. 

She went to work on Feb 21 at Creative O Preschoolers’ Bay at 31 International Business Park. She left the centre a few hours into her shift, and has not been back since.

According to the school, she comes in contact with “fewer than 20 children” in the early morning.

READ: Pre-school employee infected with COVID-19 is assistant cook

SINGAPORE MUST EXPECT “SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER NUMBERS” OF CASES

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong on Thursday said that Singapore “must expect to see significantly higher numbers” of new COVID-19 cases in time to come. 

Mr Gan highlighted that the number of cases outside mainland China “continues to grow at an alarming rate across continents and regions”. 

“This is worrying as they pose a high risk of importation of cases into Singapore,” he added. 

Singapore currently blocks entry and transit for new visitors who travelled to Iran, northern Italy or South Korea within the last 14 days. 

This was among the additional precautions announced on Tuesday to help reduce the risk of imported cases in Singapore. 

Singapore Airlines on Thursday instructed the crew members who worked on a Milan-Singapore flight last week to go on a leave of absence, after a passenger tested postive for the coronavirus.

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SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Health unveiled plans on Thursday (Mar 5) to build two polyclinics in Bishan and Bidadari by 2030, as well as a new hospital in the eastern part of Singapore.

Speaking in Parliament during his ministry’s Committee of Supply debate on Thursday, Senior Minister of State for Health Lam Pin Min said the new polyclinics will offer similar services as existing ones, including medical treatment for acute conditions, chronic disease management, and women’s and children’s health services.

The two new polyclinics in Bishan and Bidadari will bring the total number of polyclinics in Singapore to 32 by 2030, fulfilling MOH’s previously announced target.

Singapore currently has 20 polyclinics.

MOH also unveiled plans for a new integrated general and community hospital in the eastern part of Singapore by around 2030. 
 
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said in Parliament on Thursday that Changi General Hospital (CGH) is currently the only hospital in that area. 
 
“While we have added significant capacity in CGH through expansion over the years, the healthcare demand has grown substantially as a result of population growth and ageing,” he said. 
 
While the new hospital will include the usual range of hospital services, his ministry also wants to hear what the community would like to see in this new hospital, he said. 
 
“As such, SingHealth, which will be operating this new hospital, will be engaging the community to co-create ideas to better meet the needs of the residents. SingHealth will reach out to the community leaders when they are ready to start their engagement,” he said. 
 
Alexandra Hospital will also be redeveloped, with the first phase scheduled to be completed by 2030.
 
A spokesperson for the hospital said: “The Alexandra Campus will be brought closer to Stirling Estate, new residential units and the existing estates at Queensway, for better accessibility with seamless connectivity to adjacent residential clusters and the rail corridor.”
 
Alexandra Hospital’s current site boundary will expand to an estimated 13.1 ha from 12.2 ha, she added.
 
A medical planner – who among other things looks into where to place medical services and facilities, and efficiency and patient experience – will be appointed in a few months’ time, as part of detailed studies on the hospital’s redevelopment, Alexandra Hospital added. There will be a call of tender for the medical planner soon, she said.

 
ASSISTED LIVING PILOT
 
MOH also said it is working with the Ministry of National Development and the Housing & Development Board to develop an assisted living model in public housing.
 
The pilot will start with one block in Bukit Batok, MOH said.
 
“The flats will be designed with residents’ future needs in mind, including larger bathrooms and pre-installed senior-friendly fittings such as grab bars,” MOH said.

“These new assisted living flats are meant to provide seniors with a housing option for independent living, with care available if needed, and a gotong royong spirit amongst neighbours,” said Senior Minister of State for Parliament Amy Khor in Parliament on Thursday. 
 
An eldercare centre will be co-located at the block.

Seniors will also receive emergency response around the clock through personal alert buttons installed in flats, communal spaces where they can socialise, and access to a dedicated community manager who will link residents up with services that they require.
 
MOH will also enhance eldercare centres to address seniors’ social and care needs in an “integrated fashion”. 
 
From this year, MOH will introduce a baseline service model at the roughly 130 Senior Activity Centres and 140 Senior Care Centres. 
 
“The eldercare centres will stitch up and coordinate social-health services for seniors, to ensure that seniors will be able to receive relevant healthcare and social support seamlessly,” MOH said. 
 
The new model will be implemented in phases from this year to 2023, MOH said 
 
COMMUNITY CARE SECTOR TO GET BOOST
 
To attract and retain manpower in the community care sector, MOH will set aside S$150 million to support community care providers in making salaries more competitive.

“We project that it will benefit up to 4,000 local nurses and support care staff, if there is full take-up,” said Senior Minister of State for Health Amy Khor in Parliament on Thursday.

Speaking at her ministry’s Committee of Supply debate, she said that after these three years, MOH will factor in the higher salary levels in its funding to community care providers.

READ: NDR 2019: New retirement, re-employment ages of 65 and 70 by 2030; higher CPF contributions for older workers

This scheme will be made available to MOH-subvented community care providers.

The review follows previous salary increases for community care manpower, the ministry said.

Between 2012 and 2017, MOH provided S$350 million to about 90 per cent of MOH-subvented community care providers to support the increases in their employees’ salaries, the agency said.

In addition, MOH said public healthcare institutions will follow the rest of the public service to raise the retirement age to 63 and re-employment age to 68 from July 21 2021, one year ahead of the national schedule.
 
In 2019, almost all public healthcare workers at age 62 and beyond were offered re-employment and 95 per cent of these workers accepted re-employment, MOH said.