12 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore, man who was medically evacuated from Indonesia dies from complications

SINGAPORE: There were 12 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore as of noon on Saturday (Feb 27), the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its daily update.

All the new cases were imported and placed on stay-home notice or isolated upon arrival in Singapore.

SINGAPOREAN DIES FROM COMPLICATIONS DUE TO COVID-19

MOH also said on Saturday that a 64-year-old Singaporean has died from COVID-19 complications after he was medically evacuated from Indonesia to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) for treatment last month.

The man has not been included in Singapore's COVID-19 case count as he "was already an overseas registered case", said MOH.

As of Saturday, Singapore has reported a total of 59,925 COVID-19 cases. The fatality count remains at 29.

The man had been residing in Indonesia from Mar 17 last year. He tested positive for COVID-19 infection on Jan 26 this year while he was in Indonesia and was hospitalised there the next day.

He was medically evacuated to the NCID for treatment on Jan 29. His test taken in Singapore on Jan 30 also came back positive for COVID-19.

The man, who died on Friday, has a history of hyperlipidaemia, said MOH. NCID has reached out to his family and is extending assistance to them. 

IMPORTED CASES

Of the 12 imported cases, two were Singaporeans who returned from the UAE and the US.

Two cases are dependant’s pass holders who arrived from India and Myanmar.

Three cases are work pass holders who arrived from Brazil, India and the Netherlands.

The remaining five are work permit holders who arrived from India, Indonesia and Malaysia, of whom four are foreign domestic workers.

DISCHARGED CASES

Thirteen more COVID-19 cases have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. A total of 59,816 cases have fully recovered.

There are 15 COVID-19 patients who are still in hospital, most of whom are stable or improving, with one patient in a critical condition in the intensive care unit. 

Another 65 cases are isolated and cared for at community facilities. There are people who have mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19.

READ: Singapore develops new standard for cross-border verification of COVID-19 test results

SINGAPORE DEVELOPS NEW STANDARD FOR CROSS-BORDER VERIFICATION OF COVID-19 TEST RESULTS

Singapore has developed a “globally inter-operable” standard based on blockchain technology to facilitate cross-border verification of health documents, such as pre-departure COVID-19 test results, said Minister-in-charge of the Smart Nation Initiative Vivian Balakrishnan on Friday.

Dr Balakrishnan said that these notarised pre-departure test results will be available on the SingPass mobile app. The Government will also look into extending this to vaccine certificates.

Known as HealthCerts, this set of open-source digital standards is used for the issuing of digital COVID-19 test result certificates. Being in line with international and local authorities’ requirements, it can smoothen and speed up the process for travellers to clear immigration at local and foreign checkpoints.

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