On Tuesday (14 Apr), Singapore confirmed its second-largest high of new Covid-19 cases, with 334 new cases.
This comes just one day after the already-massive number of 386 cases reported on Monday (13 Apr).
We now have a total of 3,252 confirmed cases, with 25 more cases discharged, meaning 611 have fully recovered, the Ministry of Health (MOH) reported.
However, a 10th person has died, and everybody in Singapore will now have to wear masks outdoors under new measures to contain the spread of the virus.
Among the 334 new cases on Tuesday (14 Apr),
During a media briefing on Tuesday (14 Apr), Associate Professor Kenneth Mak, who is the MOH’s director of medical services, was quoted as saying by TODAY that among the 98 long-term visitor pass holders who are unlinked cases, a majority of them are probably from foreign worker dormitories.
Following from that, one new cluster has been found, also a workers’ dormitory.
It’s at PPT Lodge 1A on 8 Seletar North Link, where one of the new cases (3007) was found to be linked to 10 previously announced cases (1714, 1963, 2325, 2378, 2379, 2526, 2614, 2621, 2782 and 2884).
PPT Lodge 1A is just down the road from S11 Dormitory @ Punggol (2 Seletar North Link), which added 132 cases, for a total of 718 cases in the biggest cluster in Singapore.
The Government will now make it compulsory for all to wear a mask when leaving the house, said National Development Minister Lawrence Wong at the same press conference as Prof Mak.
First-time offenders who do not wear a mask while out will be fined $300, said MOH in a statement on Tuesday (14 Apr).
However, those who are exercising will not have to wear a mask, but must wear it once they stop exercising, MOH added.
Other exceptions include very young children under the age of two and people who have been deemed by experts to be unsuitable for wearing masks, e.g. children with special needs.
However, the new rule doesn’t mean that people should be going out more, Mr Wong was quoted by Yahoo News as saying,
Please do not use this mask wearing requirement now to say, ‘Okay, I can go out. I buy a mask and it’s okay to go out’.
In fact, the mask rule may even be extended beyond the ‘Circuit Breaker’, he said.
The number of companies deemed to be essential that are still operating will be reduced, the ministry also said.
This will cut the number of workers who are still going out to work, ensuring that they can stay at home.
Those that supply goods and services to essential services will not be affected, MOH added.
However, essential companies will not be allowed to have workers moving across its different premises, to reduce spread among teams at different locations. There should also be no contact between these teams.
The implementation of this measure means that a cluster like that at McDonald’s, which arose partly because a staff who worked at one branch went to work at another branch, will likely not arise again.
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Of the 1,315 cases still warded, 28 are in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), while 10 have died.
Case 128, a 70-year-old male Singapore Citizen, has become the 10th person to die from Covid-19, after he was diagnosed with the disease on 6 Mar. He was part of the SAFRA Jurong cluster.
1,316 have been isolated and sent to Concord International Hospital, Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Gleneagles Hospital and the Community Isolation Facility at D’Resort NTUC as they are clinically well but still test positive for Covid-19.
MS News wishes the infected patients a speedy recovery from the disease.
Featured image adapted from Facebook.
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