2 elderly Singaporeans pass away from Covid-19 complications; 799 new cases reported

[UPDATE: 11:55pm]

Two senior citizens passed away today (April 27) from complications due to Covid-19 infection. Case 1595, an 82-year-old male Singapore Citizen, was diagnosed with the virus on April 8. Case 9682, an 81-year-old male Singapore Citizen, had his infection confirm on April 20. The National Centre for Infectious Diseases has reached out to their families and is extending assistance to them.

The Ministry of Health has reported 799 new coronavirus cases in Singapore today.

Out of these, 14 cases are made up of Singaporean and Permanent Residents, while another four are on work passes, MOH confirmed. The remaining cases consist of 17 work permit holders residing outside dormitories and the other 764 being work permit holders in foreign worker dormitories. 

This would be a 132 drop from yesterday’s 931 new coronavirus cases. MOH noted that the number of unlinked cases within the community has also decreased to an average of 13 per day in the past week. The number of new cases amongst work permit holders residing outside dorms has increased, however. 

Seven new clusters have been identified, including Acacia Home, an assisted living facility located at 30 Admiralty Street. 

Results derived earlier today confirmed that 12 residents of Acacia Home and two of its staff have tested positive for the virus. Along with a 62-year-old male resident who tested positive last Saturday (April 25), all 15 people have since been warded at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. 

Meanwhile, the remaining residents and staff of Acacia Home who tested negative for Covid-19 have been placed on quarantine. 

This brings the total number of cases to 14,423, with 1,095 patients discharged from hospitals and community isolation facilities. The Covid-19 death toll in Singapore now stands at 14. 

Scaling up

The Multi-Ministry Taskforce also confirmed today that Singapore has tested about 2,100 per 100,000 persons to date — a higher intensity of testing than many other countries. 

Migrant workers living in dormitories have so far made up the bulk of the country’s Covid-19 cases in the past few weeks, and MOH assures that over 21,000 have been tested. On a daily basis, 3,000 dormitory-residing migrant workers are tested for the virus, many of whom showed no symptoms when tested. 

“This aggressive testing regime enables us to determine the extent of infection in the dormitories,” noted MOH.

“We started with the dormitories with a higher incidence of infections, and are continuing to test the workers in the other dormitories.”

MOH also asserted that testing alone cannot replace other crucial measures such as safe distancing, minimising contact and upholding good personal hygiene.  
For the latest updates on the coronavirus, visit here. 

ilyas@asiaone.com