SINGAPORE – The Ministry of Health (MOH) has preliminarily confirmed 675 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore as of Wednesday noon (May 13), taking the total count to 25,346.
Among these are two Singaporeans and permanent residents, while foreign workers living in dormitories form the bulk of the remaining cases.
More details will be released later on Wednesday, the ministry added.
On Tuesday night, MOH said that the number of Covid-19 patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities was 626. This is a new daily high.
The previous high was 504 on Monday. This is in contrast to the double-digit discharge figures that Singapore had before this month.
A total of 3,842 coronavirus patients have fully recovered since the first case was reported here on Jan 23.
MOH confirmed 884 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore on Tuesday, with migrant workers living in dormitories once more forming the majority – 877 – of the new cases.
The remaining cases comprised three Singaporeans, three work permit holders living outside dormitories and one work pass holder. There were no imported cases.
MOH said the daily number of new cases continues to increase as it is carrying out more widespread testing. It noted that the number of new cases from testing workers who show acute respiratory symptoms and their contacts has remained stable.
“(We) are also testing workers who are well and asymptomatic as part of our process to verify and test the status of every worker,” said the ministry.
It also announced two deaths on Tuesday that it classified as not Covid-19-related, bringing the number of people who have died from other causes while testing positive for the virus to nine.
The first is a 50-year-old Thai man who was diagnosed with the coronavirus on Monday after he suffered respiratory arrest and was taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital the day before. He died of cerebral haemorrhage on Tuesday.
A 31-year-old Indian man died on Sunday after he collapsed at his dormitory after complaining of chest pain, said MOH. He tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday after his death, which was caused by a heart attack.
The number of people who have died due to complications from Covid-19 remains at 21.
With about three weeks to June 1, when Singapore’s circuit breaker measures are expected to be eased, MOH data showed that the daily average of new cases among Singaporeans, permanent residents and work pass holders has come down further, from eight cases two weeks ago to seven in the past week.
The number of such cases that are unlinked also dipped from a daily average of four to three over the same period.
Globally, the outbreak, which began in December last year, has infected more than 4.3 million people. Some 293,000 have died.
The United States remains the country to be worst hit, with more than 1.4 million cases and 83,000 deaths from Covid-19 as of Wednesday.