Blogger Phillip Ang alleges Channel News Asia (CNA) has provided misleading statistics on the status of COVID-19 cases in Singapore as of 1 April, and posted a photo on Facebook that illustrates the contradicting statistics given by CNA and the Ministry of Health (MOH).
Earlier on 1 April, CNA published an article about the number of COVID-19 cases in Singapore reaching a total of 1,000 cases and details of the two new clusters that were identified at the Westlite Toh Guan dormitory and Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home.
In CNA’s article, it was highlighted that “a total of 245 cases have fully recovered and have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation services”.
Following that, blogger Phillip Ang took to Facebook on 1 April and pointed out that the number of recovered cases in CNA’s article was different with the number of recovered cases stated in MOH’s statistics.
“CNA article highlighted ‘A total of 245 cases have fully recovered and have been discharged’ but the table shows only 240 recovered,” Mr Ang stated, referring to the CNA’s article and the table of COVID-19 cases displayed on CNA website.
Mr Ang also posted a photo that illustrates the difference between the tabulated statistics by CNA and the ones from the MOH. He titled the photo ‘Govt should POFMA CNA for publishing misleading table’.
The photo shows the apparent contradiction of information given by CNA and the MOH on Singapore’s COVID-19 cases as of 1 April.
Based on Mr Ang’s photo, CNA stated in its table that there were 1,000 confirmed cases as of 1 April. Of those confirmed cases, CNA noted that 240 have recovered, 457 are hospitalised, and three have died.
The sum of the cases – recovered, hospitalised, and deaths – however, did not add up to the 1,000 confirmed cases as announced by the MOH, but only 700 in total.
As for the MOH’s table, it stated there were 1,000 confirmed cases as of 1 April, in which 245 have been discharged, 291 discharged to isolation, 437 hospitalised but stable, while 24 were hospitalised but in critical condition cases, and three deaths.
Mr Ang pointed out that CNA’s table showed 457 hospitalised cases while the MOH’s figure was 461 hospitalised cases in total.
He also questioned the reason behind CNA’s excluding the number of patients being discharged to isolation in its table.
“Number of patients still hospitalised should be 461, not 457. And why did CNA suka suka leave out the number of patients ‘discharged to isolation’?” he wrote.
Mr Ang also criticised the MOH’s use of the phrase “discharged to isolation” for patients who still require medical care and were mostly transferred to private hospitals.
He added, “MOH trying to play with words. Again.”
Meanwhile, the MOH in an update earlier today (2 April) has confirmed another death due to COVID-19 in Singapore involving a 68-year-old Indonesian national who had died due to complications of the virus at 6.43am today, bringing the total of COVID-19 death tolls in Singapore to four so far.
