A 70-year-old man from the SAFRA Jurong cluster has become the latest fatality, bringing the total number of deaths here to 10.

SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 334 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday (Apr 14), bringing the national total to 3,252.



One more fatality was confirmed - a 70-year-old Singaporean man linked to the SAFRA Jurong cluster - bringing the death toll from the novel coronavirus to 10.



The man, known as Case 128, was confirmed to have the infection on Mar 6.



"The National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) has reached out to his family and is extending assistance to them," the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its daily update.

None of the cases reported on Tuesday are imported.



Of the new cases, 198 are linked to previously identified clusters. The "vast majority" are work permit holders in dormitories, said MOH.

Twenty-two of the new cases are linked to other local cases. Ten of them are Singapore citizens or permanent residents and 12 are work permit holders.

A total of 114 are still unlinked, pending contact tracing. Of these, 24 are Singaporeans or permanent residents. A total of 85 are work permit holders, three are S pass holders, one is an employment pass holder and one has a dependant’s pass.



The Health Ministry also announced one new cluster, a foreign worker dormitory called PPT Lodge 1A at 8 Seletar North Link. Eleven cases are now linked to this cluster.

Singapore's largest COVID-19 cluster, S11 Dormitory @ Punggol, continues to grow. There are 132 new cases, bringing the total to 718.

More cases have also been linked to other dormitories, construction sites and Mustafa Centre.

MOH added on Tuesday that 25 more cases have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 611 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged.



There are 1,315 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, and most are stable or improving.

A total of 28 patients are in critical condition in the intensive care unit, while 1,316 cases who are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19 are being isolated and cared for at community facilities.

COVID-19 SITUATION STILL "CRITICAL"

At a press conference earlier on Tuesday, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said that by and large, Singaporeans are taking circuit breaker measures seriously, but the country cannot be complacent.

Mr Gan, who co-chairs the multi-ministry task force set up to handle the COVID-19 situation, said: "We remain in a critical situation, the number of cases has been increasing."



Singapore has put in place strict safe distancing measures during what it calls a circuit breaker period to stem the spread of COVID-19. The measures - which include closing non-essential workplaces and schools - will be in place for one month until May 4.



He noted that Monday's tally, 386, was the highest daily total so far.

The number of cases among foreign workers, especially those in dormitories, rose sharply to around 200 cases per day, reaching about 300 cases on Monday, he added.



"This increase is likely to continue as we undertake more testing in the dormitories. The outbreak in the foreign worker dormitories has become an important front in our fight against COVID-19," he said.

A large number of Singapore's recent COVID-19 cases have been linked to foreign worker dormitories.

Eight dormitories have been declared isolation areas, meaning residents have to be quarantined in their rooms.

Also speaking at the press conference, MOH's director of medical services Associate Professor Kenneth Mak said that the multi-ministry task force was working on a strategy for testing at dormitories, in cooperation with the inter-agency task force set up to provide support to foreign workers and dormitory operators.

“At this point in time, for the majority of the purpose-built dormitories, we don't have an approach of testing everyone ... It’s a much more targeted approach of testing those who step forward, who are sick with symptoms,” he said.



However, the joint task force may also try to actively find patients who are asymptomatic, but infected, he added. ​​​​​​​



BREAKDOWN OF TUESDAY'S CASES



One of the confirmed cases from Tuesday was linked to 10 other cases, forming a new cluster at PPT Lodge 1A, located at 8 Seletar North Link.



Another 132 additional cases were linked to the cluster at S11 Dormitory @ Punggol, which has a total of 718 confirmed cases now.



Four more cases were linked to the cluster at Westlite Toh Guan dormitory, which has a total of 88 confirmed infections.



At Toh Guan Dormitory, six more cases were linked to this cluster, taking its total to 73.



Sungei Tengah Lodge saw 32 more cases, bringing the total at this cluster to 188.



Two additional cases were linked to the cluster at Tampines Dormitory, which has a total of 55 cases.



Cochrane Lodge I now has 42 confirmed cases, after three more cases were linked to it on Tuesday.



Cochrane Lodge II has a total of 35 confirmed cases, after 10 more infections were linked to this cluster.



There was one additional case linked to the cluster at Shaw Lodge, which has a total of 17 confirmed cases now.



Two additional cases were linked to the cluster at Cassia @ Penjuru, bringing the total here to 16.



North Coast Lodge saw one additional case linked to the cluster and now has a total of 10 cases.



One additional case was linked to the cluster at Acacia Lodge, which has a total of 30 confirmed cases.



The Tuas View Dormitory has four additional cases are linked to the, bringing its total to 16.



Two additional cases were linked to the cluster at Kranji Lodge, which has a total of 12 confirmed cases.



There were also two more cases at the cluster at Tech Park Crescent dormitory, which now has 11 confirmed cases.



One additional case is linked to the cluster at Kranji Dormitory, bringing the total number of cases here to seven.



At the cluster at 36 Woodlands Industrial Park E1, there was one additional case linked to it on Tuesday, taking the total to 26.



One additional case was linked to the cluster at 31 Sungei Kadut Avenue, which has a total of 11 cases now.



There was one more case linked to the cluster at 21B Senoko Loop, which has a total of six cases now.



The cluster at 13 Senoko Way had more one more infection, bringing the total here to two cases.



Another 13 additional cases were linked to the cluster at a construction site at Project Glory, which has a total of 62 confirmed cases now.



Two additional cases are linked to the cluster at the renovation sites at the National University Hospital, which has a total of 25 confirmed cases.



At the Kenyon/UBS construction site, there was one more case linked here, taking the total to 12 cases.



Three additional cases were linked to the cluster at Mustafa, which has a total of 86 confirmed cases.



The ABC Hostel cluster, in Jalan Kubor, has one more case linked to it and now has a total of eight confirmed cases.



CASES IN THE PUBLIC HEALTHCARE SECTOR



There were two new cases identified from the public healthcare sector on Tuesday, MOH reported.



Case 2738, a 22 year-old Singaporean woman who had no recent travel history to affected countries or regions, first reported the onset of symptoms on Apr 12. Employed as a nurse at Singapore General Hospital, she had not gone to work since the symptoms started to show.



She was confirmed to have the infection on Apr 13 and is currently warded at the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH). She is a family member of Cases 2419 and 2739.



Another healthcare worker, a doctor at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, was also confirmed to have COVID-19 on Apr 13. Known as Case 3014, the 41-year-old Singaporean man had no recent travel history to affected countries or regions.



He first reported symptoms on Apr 9, and had not gone to work since the onset.



He is currently warded in an isolation room at the NCID.



MOH provided a full list of the new cases reported on Tuesday on its website.

As of Apr 14, 12pm, MOH has identified 30,646 close contacts who have been quarantined. Of these, 12,797 are currently quarantined, and 17,849 have completed their quarantine.

Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram