Singapore has reported its sixth death due to coronavirus early on Saturday, April 4, said the Ministry of Health in a news release.
The ministry said that an 88-year-old man passed away due to COVID-19. The patient had no travel history and was a permanent resident of the country. The man reportedly had a history of heart and kidney disease, cancer and diabetes. He was diagnosed with coronavirus on March 29 and was admitted to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).
The man was shifted to the intensive care unit on March 30 and passed away due to complications on Saturday around 5.41 am. The 88-year-old's case matches that of case 855 who is linked to a new cluster in the Singapore Cricket Club. According to data, Singapore has 1,114 infections, with new clusters at the Ce La Vi rooftop bar at Marina Bay Sands and a construction site at Project Glory, an integrated development at 50 Market Street.
New cases reported in Singapore
A total of 65 new cases have been reported in Singapore on Friday, April 3, with 56 of the cases being local. The MoH said that 40 cases out of the new cases are linked to previous cases while 16 are currently unlinked. The daily update said that nine of the new cases were having travel history to Europe, North America, the Middle East, and ASEAN.
The new clusters have cases that are linked to previous cases like patient 670 from Singapore Cricket Club is linked to an existing case in the Hero's bar cluster. The Maxwell MRT construction site, Keppel Shipyard, Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home, Dover Court International School, Wilby Residences and Hero's at Circular Road clusters have grown by one case each recently. As of Friday, 282 cases have completely recovered from the coronavirus. The 473 cases that are still in the hospital are recovering or improving and 25 are still in critical condition.
Strategy to fight against the coronavirus
In a 'decisive move' Singapore has imposed new rules to fight against the rising number of coronavirus cases in the country. During his address to the nation on Friday, April 3, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong that the time has come for the country to make an important move to stop the rising cases of coronavirus in the nation.
The move would include the closure of most of the workplaces except for essential workplaces. This would also mean moving to full home-based learning for schools. The Prime Minister said that although the people have responded well to the situation the rising number of cases has caused concern and needs immediate action.
"We have decided that instead of tightening incrementally over the next few weeks, we should make a decisive move now, to pre-empt escalating infections," said the Prime Minister during his address. He also said that the government will impose "impose significantly stricter measures."
