SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 344 new COVID-19 cases as of noon on Saturday (Jun 6) and recorded on more death, according to the the Ministry of Health (MOH).
This takes the total number of coronavirus infections in Singapore to 37,527, with the number of fatalities at 25.
A 41-year-old male Chinese national, known as Case 11714, died on Thursday, more than two weeks after being discharged.
He was confirmed to have COVID-19 on Apr 22, had recovered from the infection and was discharged on May 17, MOH said.
“He collapsed on Jun 4 and the coroner has certified that the cause of death was massive pulmonary thromboembolism following SARS-CoV-2 infection,” the health ministry added.
He is the youngest person to die from complications due to COVID-19.
EXPLORE OUR INTERACTIVE: COVID-19 CASES IN FOREIGN WORKER DORMS
SEVEN COMMUNITY CASES
Seven of the new cases were in the community – two Singaporeans, a permanent residents and four work permit holders.
Out of the seven cases, five were asymptomatic, but were swabbed as part of MOH’s proactive surveillance and screening.
The permanent resident is a family of a previously confirmed case and had already been quarantined earlier.
One of the Singaporeans is a cleaner at the pre-school section of an international school, and was tested as part of MOH’s proactive screening of pre-school staff.
Epidemiological investigations are ongoing for the other Singaporean case.
MOH added that all four work permit holders had been picked up as a result of proactive screening.
Of these, three were tested as part of efforts to screen workers in essential services, and one was tested as part of MOH’s screening of migrant workers deployed at public healthcare institutions.
He had been doing building maintenance works at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital and had not interacted with hospital staff or patients, the health ministry said.
The cases in the community are aged between 27 and 51, and include Singaporeans, as well as nationals from Malaysia, India and Bangladesh.
“Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased, from an average of five cases per day in the week before, to an average of seven per day in the past week,” MOH said. “The number of unlinked cases in the community has remained stable at an average of two per day in the past two weeks. We will continue to closely monitor these numbers, as well as the cases detected through our surveillance programme.”
NEW CASE IN PUBLIC HEALTHCARE SECTOR, 2 NEW CLUSTERS
There was also a new case in the public healthcare sector – a 27 year-old Singaporean who is a physiotherapist at Tampines Polyclinic.
He was confirmed to have the virus on Jun 5 and is currently warded at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.
He had not gone to work since the onset of symptoms. The man also has no recent travel history to affected countries or regions.
MAP: PLACES VISITED BY COVID-19 PATIENTS
A total of 337 of the new cases involved work permit holders residing in dormitories.
Two new clusters were also identified – at a dormitory at Beyond Tuas South Boulevard and at a dormitory at 10 Kwong Min Road.
In addition, an NTUC FairPrice outlet at Hougang Mall was newly listed as a public place visited by community cases during their infectious period. MOH specified the date to be May 30 between 11.10am and noon.
MOH has advised that people who have been to such places during the specified times should monitor their health closely for 14 days from their date of visit.
“There is no need to avoid places where confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been,” it added.
“The National Environment Agency will engage the management of affected premises to provide guidance on cleaning and disinfection.”
MOH reported that 350 more COVID-19 patients have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities.
In all, 24,559 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.
There are currently 308 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and four are in a critical condition in the intensive care unit.
A total of 12,635 cases 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.
PARLIAMENT PASSES FORTITUDE BUDGET
To help businesses and residents tide over the COVID-19 economic downturn, Parliament on Friday passed the S$33 billion Fortitude Budget, the fourth tranche of relief measures this year.
Wrapping up the debate on the Budget, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said that Singapore may take years to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The road to recovery will be long, as we deal with persistent economic impact on workers, jobs, and business. Beyond economic costs, there will be immense human and social costs,” he said in Parliament.
Earlier on Friday, Minister-in-charge of the Smart Nation initiative Vivian Balakrishnan said the Government is developing and will soon roll out a portable and wearable contact tracing device.
If the device works, it may be distributed to everyone in Singapore, he said.
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