SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Sunday (May 3) announced 657 new cases of Covid-19 infection in the country.

This brings the total number of infections in the country to 18,205.

In its statement, MOH said that the vast majority of the new cases are work permit holders who are residing in dormitories.

“Ten of the infections are Singaporeans or permanent residents, many of whom are linked cases,” MOH said.

The health ministry added that the number of cases amongst migrant workers has been fluctuating in recent days due to “clearance of backlogged cases by one laboratory”.

“MOH is working with the laboratory to stabilise its operations,” the health ministry said.

In its update in the evening, MOH identified six new clusters of infections. They are NCS Hub (5 Ang Mo Kio Street 62), 16 Fan Yoong Road, 15 Gul Way, 23 Sungei Kadut Street 2, 9A Tech Park Crescent and 64 Woodlands Industrial Park E9.

Of the 657 new infections, 13 were cases in the community. Ten of these involved Singaporeans or permanent residents and three were work pass holders.

MOH said that the number of new cases in the community has decreased, from an average of 21 cases a day in the week before, to an average of 11 a day in the past week.

It added that the number of unlinked cases in the community has also gone down, from an average of 13 cases a day in the week before, to an average of five a day in the past week.

Of the remaining cases, 18 were linked to foreign workers residing outside the dormitories and 626 were linked to those living in the dormitories.

“We continue to pick up many more cases amongst work permit holders residing in dormitories, including in factory-converted dormitories, because of extensive testing in these premises,” MOH said.

There were no imported cases on Sunday.

MOH said that of the new cases identified, 87 per cent are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.

It added that the ministry has been monitoring existing clusters for any further transmission.

Meanwhile, the cluster at Maxwell MRT Station has been closed as there have been no new cases for the past two incubation periods of 28 days, MOH said.

PATIENT FROM THE PUBLIC HEALTHCARE SECTOR

MOH said that it has identified a patient from the public healthcare sector who tested positive for Covid-19.

The patient — identified as Case 17,881 — is a 34-year-old Singaporean woman who has no recent travel history to affected countries or regions. She was diagnosed with Covid-19 infection on May 2, and is currently warded at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

The woman is employed as a nurse by the Health Promotion Board and is deployed to the community care facility at Singapore Expo. She has not gone to work since the onset of symptoms.

UPDATE ON THE REST OF THE CONFIRMED CASES

In all, MOH said that 1,408 patients have fully recovered from the Covid-19 infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities, including the 61 discharged on Sunday.

There are currently 1,630 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and 22 are in critical condition under intensive care.

MOH said that 15,149 patients 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, it added.

Eighteen have died from complications due to Covid-19 infection, including the 86-year-old woman reported on Sunday.

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