Singapore reported its first 2 cases of Covid-19 deaths on Saturday (21 Mar), as the total number of confirmed cases rises to above 380.
Both of them were above the age of 60 and had other underlying medical conditions.
The first deceased was a 75-year-old Singaporean woman.
While it wasn’t stated in the Ministry of Health’s press release, she was likely to be Singapore’s 90th case and linked to The Life Chuch and Missions Singapore cluster.
She was admitted to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) on 23 Feb for pneumonia and tested positive for Covid-19 later that day.
She had been in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) ever since her admission.
After spending 26 days in the ICU, she succumbed to the infection on Saturday (21 Mar) morning at around 7.52am.
She reportedly had a history of chronic heart disease and hypertension.
The second patient was a 64-year-old Indonesian man and is likely to be the nation’s 212nd case.
He arrived from Indonesia last Friday (13 Mar) and was admitted to the ICU at NCID on the same day in a critical condition.
After spending 9 days in the ICU, he “developed serious complications” and passed away on Saturday (21 Mar) at around 10.15am.
As with the 70-year-old woman, the man had a history of heart disease.
In response to the latest turn of events, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong took to his personal Facebook page to address citizens.
He expressed his deepest condolences for the families of the 2 patients, and urged citizens to brace themselves for more losses.
PM Lee shared that while the government is working to the best of their ability to slow the spread of Covid-19, everyone needs to do their part by supporting and complying with measures set in place.
He stresses,
We must work together to keep ourselves, our families, and Singapore safe.
Our heartfelt condolences go out to the families of the 2 patients who tragically succumbed to the virus. May they rest in peace.
If anything, this shows why we should treat the Covid-19 outbreak seriously and do everything we can to curb the spread.
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Featured image adapted from Yahoo News Singapore.
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