Record 386 new coronavirus cases in Singapore

There are 222 more cases linked to the S11 Dormitory @ Punggol, Singapore’s largest cluster which now has 586 cases. The Straits Times/Asia News Network

SINGAPORE — Singapore reported a record 386 new cases of Covid-19 infection on Monday (April 13), of which 280 are linked to known clusters.

The vast majority of these are foreign workers living in dormitories, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its daily update.

A 65-year-old Singaporean man has also become the ninth here to die of complications due to Covid-19 infection.

The man was first confirmed to be infected on April 9, the ministry said in a statement, adding that Khoo Teck Puat Hospital has reached out to his family and is extending assistance to them.

There are also 222 more cases linked to the S11 Dormitory @ Punggol, Singapore’s largest cluster which now has 586 cases.

Four new clusters have also been uncovered at facade installation company CitiWall at Kaki Bukit Crescent, ABC Hostel at Jalan Kubor, Tech Park Crescent dormitory and Kranji Dormitory.

A 77-year-old resident of Vanguard Healthcare’s Woodlands Care Home was also among the new cases. The Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) said in a statement on Monday that he is in an isolation room at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

Contact tracing is ongoing and those who had close contact with the resident will be quarantined, a spokesman said.

The Senior Care Center located at Woodlands Care Home has remained open during the circuit breaker to care for clients with no alternative arrangements, but it will now be closed, AIC said.

Alternative arrangements have been made for the centre’s clients, while another centre has been appointed as a replacement, it added.

E-Bridge Preschool at Corporation Drive has also shut temporarily, after a child who was last at the centre on April 7 tested positive for Covid-19.

The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) said on Monday that the centre will be closed until April 21 and contact tracing is under way. The premises will undergo thorough cleaning and disinfection, it added.

The centre will resume limited service provision thereafter to serve parents who are working in essential services and unable to extend their alternative care arrangements beyond the closure period.

The MOH said that another 26 patients were discharged on Monday, bringing the total of those who have fully recovered to 586.

Of the 1,158 confirmed cases still in hospital, most are stable or improving, while 29 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

The latest cases bring Singapore’s total to 2,918.