As of Friday noon (22 May), the Ministry of Health (MOH) has preliminarily confirmed an additional 614 cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore.
This brings the total number of cases in Singapore to 30,426.
There are 4 cases of community infection, who are all Singaporeans/Permanent Residents. Another 610 cases involving Work Permit holders residing inside and outside dormitories.
There are no imported cases today.
Of the new cases, 99% are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.
Two new clusters identified
- Three of the earlier confirmed cases have now been linked to form a new cluster at 564 A-E Balestier Road.
- Seven of the newly confirmed cases are linked to two previous cases to form a new cluster at 71 Kaki Bukit Industrial Terrace.
Update on condition of confirmed cases
more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 12,955 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.
There are currently 798 confirmed cases who are still in the hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and eight are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
16,650 are isolated and cared for at community facilities. These are those who have mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19.
23 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection.
More cases to be expected as Singapore aims to test more
As Singapore focuses on ramping up COVID-19 test rates, especially among migrant workers, the country is also looking to diversify its sources of COVID-19 testing resources, said the Ministry of Health, Singapore’s director of medical services Kenneth Mak on Tuesday (12 May).
At the moment, around 3,000 migrant workers living in dormitories are tested for the virus on a daily basis, but the Government wants to increase the testing rate in the next few weeks in order to make sure that these workers are free of the virus before resuming work.
While addressing reporters in a virtual press conference, Associate Professor Mak said that Singapore’s decision to intensify its testing rate is taking place at a time where many countries around the world are also doing the same.
On Tuesday, Singapore announced that it plans to test all 323,000 migrant workers living in cramped dormitories in the country as they make up the biggest chunk of infected cases here.
