17 new Covid-19 cases in S'pore in biggest single-day spike, including 11 imported; 86-year-old S'porean man is oldest patient

SINGAPORE - Singapore has confirmed 17 new Covid-19 cases, including 11 that are imported, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Monday (March 16).

It is the highest number of new cases Singapore has reported in a single day.

Among them is an 86-year-old Singaporean man, the oldest to be infected so far.

Four of the 17 confirmed patients are linked to previous ones while two are unlinked.

This brings the total number of infected patients here to 243.

An earlier case, announced on Sunday (March 15), is a 30-year-old Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officer working at Sengkang Fire Station, MOH said at a press briefing.

Further investigations have also showed that one of the new cases (Case 235) is linked to three earlier cases - 144, 208 and 214. They are all contacts from the Church of Singapore (Bukit Timah branch).

* Case 144 is a 58-year-old Singaporean woman who is a contact of Case 140, and is linked to the Safra Jurong cluster. She is a hairdresser at her home at Jurong West Street 74, and had attended to customers after the onset of symptoms.

*Case 208 is a 26-year-old female Singapore citizen who has no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. Prior to hospital admission, she had gone to work as a medical social worker at SGH.

* Case 214 is a 29-year-old male Singapore citizen with no recent travel history to affected countries and region. He is currently warded in an isolation room at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).

MOH said four more patients have been discharged, so there are now a total of 109 who have fully recovered.

The 134 still in hospital are mostly stable and improving, but 13 remain in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

On Sunday, Singapore announced further measures to reduce importation of coronavirus infections, and advised residents to defer all non-essential travel abroad to reduce their risks of contracting the virus during this coronavirus pandemic.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.

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