S'pore prison Covid-19 cases not a cluster as they are not linked

The cases took place on April 21, 22, 24 & May 9.

Belmont Lay| May 30, 2020, 11:37 PM

Prison cases not a cluster and resolved

The Ministry of Health has looked into the cases of three prisons inmates (Cases 8650, 11178 and 23195) and one staff nurse from Singapore Prison Service’s medical service provider (Case 11927), who had earlier tested positive for Covid-19.

It has been established that they were not epidemiologically linked to one another, and did not constitute a cluster.

The cases had been included earlier in our daily updates on new Covid-19 cases.

In a separate statement, Singapore Prison Service revealed that all three inmates were admitted to prisons on different days.

The first inmate tested positive on April 21, the second inmate on April 22, and the third inmate on May 9.

The healthcare worker tested positive for Covid-19 on April 24.

Following these cases detected in late April and early May, there have been no new cases of Covid-19 in prisons.

Total discharged

A total of 1,096 more cases of Covid-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities.

In all, 20,727 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities.

Still in hospital

There are currently 374 confirmed cases who are still in hospital.

Of these, most are stable or improving, and seven are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

A total of 13,242 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.

A total of 23 have passed away from complications due to Covid-19 infection.

Singapore citizen & permanent resident cases

Amongst the two Singapore citizen and permanent resident cases today, one is a non-teaching preschool staff who was picked up as a result of proactive screening to prepare for the phased reopening of preschools.

MOH will conduct a serological test to determine if this was a past or current infection.

The other case is currently unlinked.

Work Pass & Work Permit holders

Amongst the three Work Pass and Work Permit holders, one was a contact of previous confirmed cases, and had already been placed on quarantine earlier.

Another was tested before he was due to start work on a plumbing project at a preschool.

Epidemiological investigations are ongoing for the remaining case.

Top photo via Ministry of Home Affairs