Singapore reported 486 new COVID-19 cases as of noon on Monday (May 11), taking the national total to 23,787.
The number of cases was lower on Monday due in part to fewer tests being processed, as one of the laboratories was recalibrating its apparatus for one of the test kits, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in its daily update.
A total of 481 cases are work permit holders residing in foreign worker dormitories, said MOH.
MOH said it continues to pick up many more cases among work permit holders residing in dormitories, including in factory-converted dormitories, because of extensive testing in these premises.
Two new cases were reported among work permit holders residing outside dormitories. MOH said this number has decreased from an average of nine cases per day in the week before to an average of eight per day in the past week.
There were a total of three new cases in the community. This includes a 52-year-old Singaporean man who worked at 53 Sungei Kadut Loop, a permanent resident linked to a previous case as well as a work pass holder.
The number of new cases in the community has decreased, from an average of nine cases per day in the week before, to an average of eight per day in the past week, said MOH.
The number of unlinked cases in the community has also decreased, from an average of five cases per day in the week before, to an average of three per day in the past week, it added.
Of the new cases, 97 per cent are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.
MOH said that 35 cases that were verified to be negative for COVID-19 have also been removed from the count of total confirmed cases. More details can be found in MOH’s daily situation report.
New deaths
MOH also reported that a 68-year-old Singaporean man died from complications due to COVID-19 infection on Monday.
The man, identified as Case 1305, was diagnosed with COVID-19 infection on Apr 5. He had a history of hypertension and hyperlipidaemia.
The man is a family member of a seven-year-old boy who tested positive for COVID-19 in April. He is also related to another coronavirus patient, a 65-year-old Singaporean woman known as Case 1,660.
The National University Hospital has reached out to his family and is extending assistance to them, said MOH.
Twenty-one people have now died from complications due to COVID-19 infection.
A 53-year-old Indian national, known as Case 23550, died on May 9 after he suffered a cardiac arrest and was sent to the emergency department at Sengkang General Hospital.
He was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on May 10 after his death. MOH said the cause of death is ruptured myocardial infarction due to coronary thrombosis.
MOH said that Singapore’s COVID-19 fatalities include only cases where the attending doctor or pathologist attributes the primary or underlying cause of death as due to COVID-19 infection.
“This is consistent with international practice for classifying deaths. In 2018, 86 male foreign workers aged 25 to 59 passed away due to heart disease in Singapore,” MOH added.
New daily high of discharged
On Monday, MOH also reported that 504 more patients had been discharged, a new daily high.
In all, 3,225 have fully recovered from the infection and discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.
There are currently 1,093 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving while 24 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
A total of 19,448 are isolated and cared for at community facilities. These are those who have mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19.
Three new clusters were reported – Tuas South Apartments, 47 Senoko Drive and 566 Woodlands Road.
Four additional cases were also linked to the largest cluster at S11 Dormitory @ Punggol, which now has a total of 2,543 confirmed infections.
33 false positives identified
MOH announced on Sunday that an “apparatus calibration issue” for one of the test kits at a laboratory resulted in 33 “false positives”.
These 33 cases, including a healthcare worker at the Singapore Expo community care facility, previously tested positive for COVID-19.
“Subsequent retesting at the National Public Health Laboratory confirmed that these were negative cases,” said MOH, adding that it took immediate action to rectify the situation.
“The laboratory has stopped all tests and is working to resolve the calibration issue,” said the ministry.
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