58-year-old woman who went to work at Bishan MRT station among 2 S'porean cases; 4 new clusters

[SINGAPORE] A 58-year-old woman who went to work at Bishan MRT station was among two new Singaporean coronavirus cases announced on Monday (May 18).

The other is a 50-year-old man who went to work in Tai Seng.

The 305 new confirmed cases on Monday are the lowest Singapore has recorded for over a month - since April 12 when there were 233 new cases. The Ministry of Health (MOH) also announced four new clusters.Foreign workers living in dormitories continued to form the bulk of the remaining new cases, making up 303 of the new cases.

The lower number of cases on Monday is partly due to fewer tests being processed because one testing laboratory is reviewing its processes following an earlier apparatus calibration issue. The laboratory will need time to increase its testing capacity, MOH said on Monday in its daily update.

A total of 495 Covid-19 patients were discharged from hospitals or community facilities.

As of Monday, 9826, or about 35 per cent, of the total 28, 343, Covid-19 cases in Singapore have fully recovered from the virus and been discharged.

This is the sixth consecutive day in which the number of patients discharged exceeded the new cases announced.

MOH had similarly said last Saturday (May 16) that fewer tests were also processed on that day because of a testing lab reviewing its processes.The daily average of new cases outside dormitories has continued to fall.

For Singaporeans, PRs and pass holders, it decreased from seven cases two weeks ago to three in the past week. The corresponding figures for work permit holders staying outside dormitories over the same period are four and one.

The number of cases among Singaporeans, PRs and pass holders that are unlinked, remained stable at two in the past two weeks. Of the new cases, only 1 per cent was unlinked, and contact tracing is ongoing.

Twenty-two have died from Covid-19 complications and nine who tested positive have died from other causes.

Globally, the outbreak, which began in December last year, has infected more than 4.7 million people. Some 315,000 have died.

THE STRAITS TIMES