COVID-19 II: 49 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore; Mustafa Centre among 3 new clusters identified (2 Apr)

[Wildfaye29]

+47 (33 import)

[Carbon82]

+47 new cases!!!

-3 discharged

196 warded

15 critical

 

COVID-19 cases in Singapore reach 313 with 47 new infections, 33 imported

SINGAPORE: Singapore on Wednesday (Mar 18) reported 47 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total in the country to 313.

This is the first time the number of infections in Singapore have passed the 300 mark, and is the highest number of confirmed daily cases reported so far. 

Of the new cases, 33 are imported, and includes 30 returning Singapore residents who were infected overseas and brought the infection to Singapore, authorities said.

These imported cases comprise citizens, permanent residents and long term pass holders. 

Nineteen of them have a travel history to Europe while six had been in North America. Six other cases have a travel history to ASEAN nations while another case travelled beyond ASEAN to other parts of Asia. 

The remaining imported case had travelled to both Europe and North America. 

Nine other cases are linked to previous cases while five are currently unlinked, MOH added. 

As part of enhanced efforts to tackle the spread of COVID-19, MOH said it is advising Singaporeans to defer all travel abroad, and that Singaporeans coming back from overseas will have to serve a 14-day self-isolation.

"Most of these cases are imported ones and the majority are Singaporeans and residents coming back from overseas ... we cannot afford to take further risk if the number of these imported cases continue to rise," said National Development Minister Lawrence Wong. 

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said he expects the number of cases to increase but Singapore's healthcare capacity is "designed to handle them".

"So 47 is the highest single day so far, but we do see the number going up ... many residents have returned to Singapore, even before we introduced the Stay-Home Notice and the current travel advisory," he said.

"We do expect some of them to be infected. They are now in the incubation period and in the next two or three weeks, we will see some of these infected cases emerging."

He also said that MOH would be announcing additional social distancing measures, particularly for the more vulnerable such as the elderly.

"This will help to further reduce the risk of transmission in our local community," he added.

SINGAPORE, MALAYSIA HEALTH OFFICIALS HOLD VIRTUAL MEETING

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong held a virtual meeting on Wednesday with his Malaysian counterpart Dr Adham Baba, as well as senior officials from the Malaysian Health Ministry and the Johor state health department.

"Dr Adham Baba informed us that Malaysia had to make a serious announcement on Mar 16 night to implement a Movement Control Order to curb the spread of COVID-19," said MOH in a Facebook post. "With rapid increases in cases seen in many countries, the COVID-19 outbreak is now a global pandemic and it is concerning to us."

Malaysia has barred citizens from going overseas and foreigners from entering the country for two weeks, a move announced by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Monday night amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in the country.

The announcement briefly caused long queues in supermarkets in Singapore, before Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that the movement of goods and cargo, including food, will continue between the two countries.

Singapore firms and Johor residents who used to commute daily to work in Singapore scrambled to find alternative accommodation. In the final hours of Tuesday night, travellers piled up along the Causeway as people tried to make it across the strait before the midnight deadline.

Health officials from both countries agreed that they should continue to work closely together, "as the situation is evolving quickly".

"Senior Officials under the Singapore-Malaysia Joint Working Group (JWG) are in close communication and are sharing information with each other on COVID-19 to facilitate timely response and contact-tracing of confirmed cases," said Singapore's MOH.

"We will work together to find solutions to minimise the impact on the lives of our people and protect them from COVID-19," the Facebook post added.

Several cases in Singapore has been linked to a religious gathering in Malaysia, resulting in the the closure of all mosques in Singapore until Mar 26.

MOH found that 101 people in Singapore had attended the gathering, Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli had told the media.

The event held at the end of last month at a sprawling mosque complex on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur has emerged as a source of hundreds of new coronavirus infections spanning Southeast Asia.

A 34-year-old Malaysian man who attended the event died on Tuesday, said Dr Adham - the first death linked to the event, which was attended by 16,000 people, including 1,500 foreigners from Indonesia and Brunei, among others.

[Jellandross]

Mr Gan told reporters that of the 33 imported cases, 30 were returning Singapore residents who were infected overseas and had “brought the infection to Singapore”.

Read more at https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/covid-19-number-new-patients-singapore-jumps-high-47-including-33-imported-cases

Edited March 18, 2020 by Jellandross

[Ho2786]

this is the end

if everyday have 50 cases

in 30 days, no more ICU beds.

[1fast1]

5 minutes ago, Jellandross said:

Mr Gan told reporters that of the 33 imported cases, 30 were returning Singapore residents who were infected overseas and had “brought the infection to Singapore”.

Read more at https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/covid-19-number-new-patients-singapore-jumps-high-47-including-33-imported-cases

See lah! Travel some more lah! Self justify lah! 🙄

[Watwheels]

We might be seeing more after the one week school holidays are over.

Possible school closure? If children who traveled get infected? Headache for us parents.

Nothing should be surprising by now.

[13177]

11 minutes ago, Jellandross said:

Mr Gan told reporters that of the 33 imported cases, 30 were returning Singapore residents who were infected overseas and had “brought the infection to Singapore”.

Read more at https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/covid-19-number-new-patients-singapore-jumps-high-47-including-33-imported-cases

47 new cases! Suddenly increased so much! 😓

[Knoobie]

Still no RED?

[Weez911]

Just wow.

I will remember today for the rest of my life. 47 new cases. 47.

47.

[Knoobie]

9 minutes ago, Ho2786 said:

this is the end

if everyday have 50 cases

in 30 days, no more ICU beds.

No need 30 days. 10 days enough liao

[Knoobie]

9 minutes ago, Ho2786 said:

this is the end

if everyday have 50 cases

in 30 days, no more ICU beds.

No need 30 days. 10 days enough liao

[Wt_know]

when declare RED !!!  

wait until SK or Italy level, is it?

[Philipkee]

2 minutes ago, Knoobie said:

No need 30 days. 10 days enough liao

You are not necessarily correct.

You assume we dont have ICU for other patients.  You see, even with covid-19 people still get heart attacks, road traffic accidents and such....

You also assume there are no other infectious diseases in Singapore at the moment.  There are but not really that serious in that they dont make the news BUT the patients still take the beds.

But you are not necessarily wrong also.

[1fast1]

12 minutes ago, Knoobie said:

Still no RED?

I don't even care about them explicitly going to RED. 

Just BAN travel already! No advisory, no BS stay at home. Even if those are followed, they will still overload the system when returning people get sick during home quarantine. Just give an extremely short deadline (end of this week) for sinkies overseas to get their ass back into the country (foreigners of any sort without a primary residence in sg can stay outside). Then close all our borders for a minimum of a month. Those Sinkies who refuse to cut their vacation or business short can stew in a foreign country for an indeterminate period. Too bad.

Edited March 18, 2020 by Turboflat4

[inlinesix]

12 minutes ago, Weez911 said:

Just wow.

I will remember today for the rest of my life. 47 new cases. 47.

47.

You might need to reset your memory tomorrow

Edited March 18, 2020 by inlinesix

[therock]

10 minutes ago, Weez911 said:

Just wow.

I will remember today for the rest of my life. 47 new cases. 47.

47.

No need to panic.. 470, maybe..

We are seeing a lot of returnees from elsewhere, so there will be a surge.

Lock down these folks and we will be ok.

 

 

 

[Philipkee]

4 minutes ago, Turboflat4 said:

I don't even care about them explicitly going to RED. 

Just f**king BAN travel already! No advisory, no BS stay at home. Even if those are followed, they will still overload the system when returning people get sick during home quarantine. Just give an extremely short deadline (end of this week) for sinkies overseas to get their ass back into the country (foreigners of any sort without a primary residence in sg can stay outside). Then close all our borders for a minimum of a month. 

Damn it! 

I agree.  A ban.  Not advisory.  Cos without a ban, planes still fly.  People CANNOT GET REFUNDS because there is no ban by the govt.  

I am not saying refund should be a priority but to some people, not getting a refund is bad and they would take the risk.  At most SHN.

So a ban is needed.

The economy would take a very big hit.  Now the question is which is worse.

And lest anyone forget, masks are still not readily available commercially.

[1fast1]

By the way, I'm not sure if anyone noted this dubious and unfortunate milestone, but we already passed it before this latest jump: at the end of the epidemic, there were "only" 238 cases of SARS. 

We have now (un)comfortably surpassed that number.

Poor @Carbon82 started this thread with the hopes (that I shared) that this wouldn't be as bad.

It's not. 

It's much, much worse. 

And will get even worser (yes I know my damn grammar).

Edited March 18, 2020 by Turboflat4