7 community cases and 2 dormitory residents among 34 new COVID-19 infections in Singapore

SINGAPORE: Nine locally transmitted cases were among the 34 new COVID-19 infections reported in Singapore as of noon on Saturday (May 1), the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its preliminary daily update.

Of the locally transmitted cases, seven are in the community. Three of these are linked to Case 62541, a 46-year-old female Philippine national who is a nurse, and were detected from the Health Ministry's testing of patients and staff members at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

There are now 16 cases linked to the cluster at the hospital. 

The remaining two locally transmitted cases reside in a dormitory. 

Twenty-five cases were imported and were placed on stay-home notice or isolated upon arrival in Singapore, the ministry said. Amongst them, nine are Singaporeans or permanent residents and four are foreign domestic workers.

Details of the new cases will be released on Saturday night, said MOH.

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TAN TOCK SENG HOSPITAL CLUSTER

The Tan Tock Seng Hospital cluster is Singapore's first hospital cluster and currently the country's largest. 

A total of four hospital wards have now been locked down, up from two wards on Thursday.

This means there will be no movement in and out of those wards except for essential testing, said the hospital's CEO Dr Eugene Soh at a press conference by the COVID-19 multi-ministry task force on Friday.

There are currently 1,100 inpatients and 4,500 staff members at the hospital – all of whom will be swabbed, said Dr Soh.

Visitors are not allowed at the hospital except on a case-by-case basis for patients who are critically ill.

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Singapore will stop entry or transit for visitors with recent travel history to Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the COVID-19 task force also announced on Friday.

The ban starts on May 2 and covers all long-term pass holders and short-term visitors who have been in the four countries in the last 14 days, including transit.

Locally, MOH said that individuals should limit their social interactions in view of the growing number of community cases.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased from 10 in the week before to 35 in the past week. Unlinked cases in the community have also increased from five in the week before to six in the past week.

While the current eight-person limit on unique household visitors and gatherings in public places remains in place, MOH’s guidance is that such social interactions should be capped at two per day.

As of Saturday, Singapore has reported a total of 61,179 COVID-19 cases.

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