49 new coronavirus cases in Singapore; new cluster at SingPost Centre linked to 3 cases

[SINGAPORE] Singapore announced 49 new coronavirus cases on Friday (March 27), with a new cluster at SingPost Centre in Eunos now linked to three cases.

A total of 22 of the new cases were imported, comprising returning residents or long-term pass holders who had travelled to Europe, North America, Middle East or other parts of Asia.

Of the locally-transmitted cases, five are linked to the cluster at the PCF Sparkletots pre-school in Fengshan, and three are linked to the cluster at Dover Court International School.

There are now 25 cases linked to the Fengshan pre-school, 16 of whom are staff there. The remaining nine are family members of the school's principal.

A total of 183 have recovered and been discharged so far. However, of the 432 still in hospital, 17 are in critical care.

On Friday, new laws kicked in to penalise those who intentionally sit down less than 1m away from another person in a public place or on a fixed seat marked as not to be occupied, or who stand in a queue less than 1m away from another person.

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If found guilty, they can be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to six months, or both.

The new regulations have come as updates were made to the Infectious Diseases Act by the Ministry of Health and published in the Government Gazette on Thursday night.

The Ministry of Education also announced that all schools will conduct one day of home-based learning a week, to prepare parents and students for more days of home-based learning if and when required.

Singapore has announced increasingly strict measures to fight the spread of the virus, including limiting all gatherings outside of work or school to 10 people or less, and imposing penalties on those with acute respiratory symptoms, who leave their homes while on their five-day sick leave.

Since 11.59pm onThursday, all entertainment venues like bars, cinemas, and karaoke outlets have been closed and will continue to be until April 30.

Malls, museums and restaurants must reduce crowd density to stay open, and all centre-based tuition, enrichment classes and religious services have been suspended.

THE STRAITS TIMES