42 new coronavirus cases in Singapore; 3 cases form new cluster in Yishun

[SINGAPORE] A NEW cluster involving three people at a bridal salon in Yishun Industrial Street, The Wedding Brocade, was identified on Sunday (March 29), as the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced 42 new confirmed Covid-19 cases in Singapore.

There are now 844 cases in Singapore. Among the new cases, 24 are imported and 18 are local cases who have no recent travel history abroad. The 24 imported cases had travel history to Europe, North America, Middle East, Asean and other parts of Asia. Ten of the new cases are currently not linked, and contact tracing is ongoing.

Case 810, one of the new cases, is from the cluster at The Wedding Brocade. She is a 22-year-old Singaporean woman and is now hospitalised at Changi General Hospital. She is linked to two other cases announced on March 28: case 745, a 36-year-old Singaporean woman hospitalised at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, and case 802, a 28-year-old Singaporean woman hospitalised at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH) .

In its update, MOH also gave more information on Case 741, which was announced on Saturday. She is a 42-year-old nurse at Sengkang General Hospital with no travel history to affected countries or regions, and had turned up at work before being admitted to hospital. 

The permanent resident reported the onset of symptoms on March 24, and test results confirmed that she had Covid-19 on March 27. Contact tracing is ongoing, said MOH.

She is the second confirmed case from the public healthcare sector, and is currently hospitalised in an isolation room at Sengkang General Hospital. The first case - case 167 - was a Filipino emergency department nurse working at NTFGH.

Fourteen more cases have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities, MOH said, bringing the total number of cases that have been discharged to 212.

Nineteen are in critical condition in the intensive care unit, while 206 cases who are clinically well but still test positive for Covid-19 are isolated at Concord International Hospital, Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Gleneagles Hospital and the community isolation facility at D'Resort NTUC.

Singapore also reported its third coronavirus death on Sunday. Chung Ah Lay, 70, who was Case 109, died from complications due to Covid-19 infection at 12.12pm on Sunday. He had a history of hypertension and high cholesterol, and had no recent travel history to affected countries and regions. THE STRAITS TIMES