287 New Covid-19 Cases In S’pore On 9 Apr, Mustafa Centre Linked To 5 Dorm Clusters, 1 Worksite Cluster

Singapore Confirms 287 New Covid-19 Cases, Bringing National Tally To 1,910 On 9 Apr

On Thursday (9 Apr), Singapore confirmed another new high of 287 new Covid-19 cases, with more than half of them coming from the S11 dormitory in Punggol.

This is more than twice the already-massive number of 142 cases reported the day before.

We now have a total of 1,910 confirmed cases, with 54 cases discharged, meaning 460 have fully recovered,the Ministry of Health (MOH) reported.

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Foreign worker dorms make up the bulk of cases

Among the 287 new cases,

• 217 are linked to known clusters, of which 202 were linked to foreign dormitories.
• 19 are linked to other cases.
• 48 are unlinked.
• Just 3 are imported.

Mustafa Centre linked to 5 dormitories, 1 worksite

During a media briefing on Thursday (9 Apr), MOH director of medical services Kenneth Mak said the existing cluster at Mustafa Centre has been linked to Project Glory at Market Street, a 51-storey construction worksite.

The mall also has links to 5 dormitories:

1. S11 Dormitory @ Punggol
2. Toh Guan Dormitory
3. Sungei Tengah Lodge
4. Tampines Dormitory
5. Cochrane Lodge II

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Prof Mak was quoted by TODAY as saying that “many of these cases” stemmed from the cluster at the mall.

He thinks that the virus spread to foreign workers who went to Mustafa Centre by the staff there. These infected workers then infected their co-workers, and then those who shared dormitories with them.

Foreign workers mingle at places, spread virus to one another and bring it back to dorms

Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong, who is co-chairman of the taskforce battling Covid-19, said venues like Mustafa Centre and Project Glory are places that foreign workers gather and work together, thus spreading the virus to one another.

He was also quoted by TODAY as saying:

And when they went back to the dorms, they transmitted it to fellow dorm residents. So it is very likely that the virus spread has been going around for some time in dorms and we are now seeing the indications of it.

Biggest cluster in Singapore gets bigger

S11 Dormitory @ Punngol accounted for more than half of the new cases on Thursday (9 Apr), with 166 new cases linked to the premises.

The biggest cluster in Singapore now has a total of 283 cases of Covid-19 infection.

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New dormitory cluster found

There is also 1 new cluster, also a foreign workers’ dormitory: Shaw Lodge.

The dormitory at 12 Shaw Road is now linked to 5 previously announced cases — cases 1379, 1380, 1556, 1558 and 1564.

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884 cases still warded

Of the 884 cases still warded, 29 are in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), while 6 have died. Case 1604, a 32-year-old Indian man, passed away on Wednesday (8 Apr), after taking a swab test for Covid-19 the day before at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID). He tested positive posthumously.

559 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 Google Maps.