Record 447 new coronavirus cases in S'pore, of which 404 are linked to dormitories

SINGAPORE - New Covid-19 cases hit another daily high on Wednesday (April 15), with the Ministry of Health announcing 447 new cases.

This brings the country's total cases to 3,699 as of noon on Wednesday. There were 41 more cases discharged bringing the total number of those recovered to 652.

Dormitories continue to make up the vast majority of new cases. A total of 404 of the 447 new cases are work permit holders residing in dormitories.

There were another four new clusters at dormitories and new cases at nearly all existing dormitory clusters. The S11 Dormitory @ Punggol, Singapore's largest cluster, added another 74 cases bringing the total to 797.

Five of the new cases are work permit holders living outside dormitories.

There were 38 new local cases in the community on Wednesday and the Ministry of Health noted that the number of new cases in the community has remained stable in the past two weeks, with an average of 36 cases per day.

However, it added that the number of new cases among work permit holders has increased significantly from 48 cases per day in the week before this to 260 cases per day in the past week. This is in part because of efforts to undertake more active testing of the workers.

Of the new cases, 68 per cent are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.

No imported cases have been announced since April 9.

The Ministry of Health also reported a death of someone who subsequently tested positive, though the 80-year-old Malaysia male died on April 14 from causes not related to his Covid-19 infection. Under MOH's enhanced surveillance, he was tested after his death and the result came back positive.

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

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