SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 70 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday (Mar 28), bringing the total number of cases to 802, including two more individuals linked to the SingPost Centre cluster.
Of the new cases, 41 are imported and had travelled to Europe, North America, ASEAN and other parts of Asia, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in a press release.
Fifteen of the cases are linked to clusters or previous cases, while 14 cases are currently unlinked. Contact tracing is ongoing.
Fifteen more patients were discharged from hospital, meaning 198 people have now fully recovered from COVID-19 in Singapore.
Of the 420 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving. Nineteen are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
A total of 182 patients who are clinically well but tested positive for COVID19 are isolated and being treated at Concord International Hospital, Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Gleneagles Hospital and the Community Isolation Facility at D’Resort NTUC.
Two patients have died in Singapore from complications due to COVID-19.
READ: COVID-19: Singaporeans urged to defer non-essential trips to malls
TWO MORE CASES LINKED TO SINGPOST CENTRE CLUSTER, 1 LINKED TO PCF SPARKLETOTS
Out of the 70 new COVID-19 patients, two are linked to the SingPost Centre cluster, which now has five confirmed cases.
One is linked to the cluster involving the PCF Sparkletots pre-school in Fengshan and another is linked to Dover Court International School.
The PCF Sparkletots cluster now has 26 confirmed cases and the Dover Court International School cluster has eight in total.
A 1-year-old Singaporean girl is among the 41 imported cases. She has a travel history to the UK and France.
While more links have been made to previous cases or clusters, there remain 67 locally transmitted cases still unlinked. Contact tracing is under way for these cases, said MOH.
DEFER NON-ESSENTIAL TRIPS TO MALLS
On Saturday, Singapore authorities urged people in a WhatsApp message to stay at home and only visit malls for essentials, like food.
This comes a day after large crowds were seen outside malls, as mall operators implemented stricter safe-distancing measures to contain the spread of COVID-19.
The Government also called on foreign workers and foreign domestic workers to stay in on their rest days and avoid gathering in public spaces, and reminded Singaporeans to stay 1m away from each other, and to avoid gathering in public spaces and visiting crowded areas.
Stiffer regulations that came into effect at 11.59pm on Thursday introduced jail terms and fines for individuals, event organisers and owners of premises who flout safe-distancing measures, as stipulated by the COVID-19 multi-ministry taskforce.
READ: Jail terms, fines for those who breach COVID-19 safe-distancing rules, stay-home notice
Under the new measures, gatherings outside of work or school have to be limited to 10 people, who must maintain 1m distance from each other. This applies to settings where “interactions are non-transient”, like shopping centres, supermarkets and restaurants.
Owners of premises and event organisers have to ensure that non-fixed seating is at least 1m away from any other seat at all times. If seats are fixed to the floor, owners have to ensure that customers sit only on alternate seats.
Where queues form at public places, such as retail stores and supermarkets, individuals have to stand a metre apart from each other.
Businesses owners and event organisers who ignore these regulations may be jailed up to six months, fined up to S$10,000 or both.
Individuals who intentionally sit on demarcated seats or stand in a queue less than 1m away from another individual could also face these penalties.
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