Singapore coronavirus cases cross 4,000 with 728 cases in new daily record

SINGAPORE - For a second day running, Singapore recorded another daily high of new coronavirus cases, 728, with the total number of people infected crossing the 4,000 mark.

Like in the past two weeks, foreign workers living in dormitories continue to drive this increase, accounting for 654 of new patients.

Of the remaining new cases, 48 are other local community cases while 26 are work permit holders living outside dormitories.

There were five new clusters announced, with some linked to dormitories, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its daily update on Thursday (April 16).

This includes two large purpose-built dormitories, Westlite Mandai, which is linked to 31 cases, and Leo dormitory, which has 21. This means that 19 of the 43 purpose-built dormitories here, together with several factory converted dormitories, have reported active clusters in recent weeks.

S11 Dormitory @ Punggol, Singapore's largest cluster, also added 181 cases as of Thursday noon, and now has 979 cases - about a fifth of the country's total.

Another dormitory, Mandai Lodge I, had another 154 new cases. Some 161 workers who live there have now tested positive for the coronavirus.

The ministry said 19 per cent of the new cases are currently unlinked and contact tracing on these cases is being done.

No imported cases were reported for the seventh successive day.

Singapore now has 4,427 Covid-19 cases.

As of Thursday noon, 31 more patients were discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities, bringing the total number of those who have fully recovered to 683.

The number of people who have died, 10, stays unchanged.

A third nursing home was also hit by the virus, with an 89-year-old resident, dubbed Case 4,053, at Pacific Healthcare Nursing Home now warded in an isolation room at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.

The Senja Road nursing home has been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, and those who have had close contact with the resident will be quarantined, the Agency for Integrated Care said in a separate statement on Thursday.

Two other nursing homes - Vanguard Healthcare's Woodlands Care Home, as well as Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home - have previously reported cases. The latter has been linked to two deaths, both 86-year-old female residents.

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

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