88-year-old S’porean in TTSH cluster dies from Covid-19 complications

Singapore – An 88-year-old patient linked to the cluster at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) has passed away from Covid-19 complications on Saturday (May 1).

The Ministry of Health (MOH) announced in its daily Covid-19 update that the Singaporean woman, identified as Case 62573, had been warded in TTSH Ward 9D from Apr 14.

She was confirmed to have Covid-19 infection on Apr 28 and had a history of cancer, hypertension, congestive cardiac failure, stroke and hyperlipidaemia.

The woman is Singapore’s 31st Covid-19 fatality and the first in more than a month.

“NCID (National Centre for Infectious Diseases) has reached out to her family and is extending assistance to them,” said MOH.

The TTSH Covid-19 cluster is Singapore’s first in a hospital. It is also the largest cluster currently, with 16 Covid-19 cases.

The cluster was first identified on Apr 27 when a TTSH nurse deployed at Ward 9D tested positive for the virus.

As a result, four hospital wards have been locked down, and 76 staff members placed on a leave of absence.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased from 11 cases in the week before to 37 cases in the past week, said MOH.

The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from 4 cases in the week before to 10 cases in the past week.

“Amongst the 213 confirmed cases reported from Apr 25 to May 1, 78 cases have tested positive for their serology tests, 101 have tested negative, and 34 serology test results are pending.”

MOH noted that there are currently 111 confirmed cases still in hospital. None are in the intensive care unit. Meanwhile, 272 are isolated and cared for at community facilities./TISG

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