23rd May 2020
As of 23 May 2020, 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed and verified an additional 642 cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore. The breakdown is as follows:
a) Imported cases: 0
There are no imported cases today.
b) Cases in the community: 11 (6 Singaporeans/Permanent Residents, 3 Work Pass holders, 2 Work Permit holders)
The number of new cases in the community has increased, from an average of 5 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 7 per day in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased, from an average of 1 case per day in the week before, to an average of 2 per day in the past week. This is partly due to our active surveillance and screening of nursing home residents and pre-school staff, which have picked up more cases in the past week. We will continue to closely monitor these numbers, as well as the cases detected through our surveillance programme.
c) Cases residing in dormitories: 631
We continue to pick up many cases amongst Work Permit holders residing in dormitories, including in factory-converted dormitories, because of extensive testing in these premises, as part of our process to verify and test the status of all workers.
2. Details of these trends can be found in MOH’s daily situation Report (www.moh.gov.sg/covid-19/situation-report). Please refer to Annex A for the summary of the confirmed cases.
3. Of the new cases, 99% are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.
4. MOH has been monitoring existing clusters for any further transmission. As there have been no more cases linked to Tuas South Incineration Plant (98 Tuas South Avenue 3) and 234A Balestier Road for the past two incubation periods (i.e. 28 days), the clusters have now been closed.
Links between previous cases found
5. In the past week (16 May to 22 May), MOH has uncovered links for 6 previously unlinked cases.
6. Further epidemiological investigations and contact tracing have uncovered links between previously announced and new cases. Please refer to Annex B and Annex C for details.
Update on condition of confirmed cases
7. 927 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 13,882 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.
8. There are currently 711 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and eight are in critical condition in the intensive care unit. 16,452 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.
MINISTRY OF HEALTH
23 MAY 2020