SINGAPORE — In the largest one-day spike of Covid-19 cases to date, the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday (March 25) said 73 more cases were confirmed in Singapore, with 38 cases imported from abroad.

This brings the tally to 631 cases so far.

The imported cases had travel history to Europe, North America, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) member countries as well as other parts of Asia. All except one were returning residents and long term pass holders, MOH said.

Of the remaining 35 locally transmitted cases, 27 were linked to previous cases while eight infections are currently unlinked. Contact tracing is ongoing, MOH said. 

The ministry added that 160 people have fully recovered from Covid-19 and have been discharged from hospital — including three (Cases 94, 140 and 520) that were discharged on Tuesday.

Of the 404 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most are in stable condition or improving.

Seventeen people are in critical condition under intensive care, MOH said, while two have died from complications due to Covid-19 infection.

In its statement, the ministry reminded those who have been issued with the 14-day stay-home notice (SHN) to remain in their place of residence in order to reduce the risk of community transmission from imported cases. 

From Wednesday midnight onwards, United Kingdom and United States returnees will serve their 14-day SHN in dedicated facilities, it added.

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LINKS BETWEEN PREVIOUS CASES

MOH said that further epidemiological investigations and contact tracing have uncovered links between previously announced and new cases. This was made possible with the assistance of the Singapore Police Force, it added.

• Fourteen of the confirmed cases (Cases 93, 95, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 108 and 110) are linked to Wizlearn Technologies.

• Forty-seven of the confirmed cases (Cases 94, 96, 107, 112, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 120, 121, 122, 125, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 133, 134, 137, 139, 140, 142, 144, 145, 146, 148, 149, 150, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 164, 166, 174, 179, 185, 186, 196, 201, 218 and 224) are linked to a private dinner function at Safra Jurong on Feb 15. 

  • Six of the confirmed cases (Cases 142, 162, 163, 305, 345 and 443) are linked to Boulder+ Gym at the Aperia Mall (12 Kallang Avenue).

  • Five of the confirmed cases (Cases 144, 208, 214, 235 and 283) are linked to the Church of Singapore (Bukit Timah) (2B Hindhede Road).

• Three of the confirmed cases (Cases 183, 252 and 310) are linked to Masjid Al-Muttaqin (5140 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6).

• Eighteen of the confirmed cases (Cases 516, 521, 566, 567, 572, 583, 584, 601, 602, 603, 604, 605, 609, 610, 612, 614, 617 and 624) are linked to a new cluster at PCF Sparkletots Preschool @ Fengshan Blk 126 (126 Bedok North Street 2). Out of this, 14 are staff at the preschool, and four (Cases 521, 566, 567, and 572) are family members of Case 601. 

• Three of the confirmed cases (Cases 556, 618 and 626) are linked to a new cluster at Dover Court International School (301 Dover Road). All three are staff at the school.

The MOH said that in total, contact tracing is underway for 44 locally transmitted cases to establish any links to previous cases or travel history to affected countries or regions.