SINGAPORE - Patients at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) with more serious Covid-19 symptoms will be transferred to acute hospitals if required, IMH told The Straits Times on Thursday (Nov 4). And, so far, about 40 have been transferred. It said 16 staff and 278 patients have tested positive for Covid-19 in its cluster as at Wednesday (Nov 3). The cluster emerged last Monday (Oct 25), with 108 inpatients and eight staff infected then. On Thursday, IMH said it is working with the National Centre for Infectious Diseases to manage inpatients who have Covid-19. Most of its patient cases were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms and are managed in IMH. IMH said it is also working with the Ministry of Health to take measures to manage the cluster and minimise the risks of future clusters. IMH added: "We would like to assure the public that other wards in IMH and clinical services such as the outpatient specialist clinics continue to operate. "We will give priority to those who need crisis care and seek patients' understanding that they may experience longer waiting time in some of these clinical areas for regular care." More on this topic Related Story How close is Singapore's healthcare system to its breaking point? Related Story How close is Singapore's healthcare system to its breaking point?
Good morning! Here are our top stories to kick-start your Sunday, Sept 12. Chinatown Complex closed after Covid-19 cluster with 66 cases; S’pore reports 555 new infections All staff working at Chinatown Complex are being tested for Covid-19. READ MORE HERE Messages of unity, resolve mark 20th anniversary of 9/11 attacks The greatest lesson from that day was the value of national unity, Mr Biden said. READ MORE HERE RSAF scrambled F16 fighter jets on Saturday in response to potential air threat A Royal Malaysia Police helicopter flew over Pulau Tekong on Saturday morning at around 9.20am. READ MORE HERE More on this topic Related Story ST newsletters: Get alerts on the latest news About 1,000 F&B, retail businesses open in S'pore each month despite pandemic Not only did the number of businesses formed exceed that of closures, more businesses opened compared with that during the pre-pandemic years, between 2017 and 2019. READ MORE HERE How the Covid-19 cluster linked to Jurong Fishery Port was contained The Jurong Fishery Port cluster is Singapore's largest Covid-19 cluster in the community to date. READ MORE HERE S'pore opens Covid-19 vaccination channels for overseas-based citizens There are two vaccination channels available for overseas Singaporeans. READ MORE HERE Man's $670,000 investment loss a cautionary tale Mr Andy Poh plunged headlong into an investment on the recommendation of a bank relationship manager. READ MORE HERE Let's talk about race, but not just about race What is it that Singaporeans want to achieve when they talk about race, or enact laws to protect and enhance race relations? READ MORE HERE Former commando creates miniatures so beautiful that people cry Mr Wilfred Cheah decided to become a full-time miniature artist when he turned 55 last year. READ MORE HERE Look how much you've grown: Baby panda's first month Mum Jia Jia and baby are still together in an off-exhibit den to give them time to nurse and bond in privacy. READ MORE HERE
Good morning! Here are our top stories to kick-start your Saturday, Sept 4. New Covid-19 cluster at Changi General Hospital with 14 cases The latest CGH cluster is separate from an earlier active cluster with 4 cases. READ MORE HERE Bugis Junction Covid-19 cluster may have started with infected member of public who visited mall: Kenneth Mak The spread of the virus among mall employees could be due to a lack of compliance with Covid-19 measures, said Prof Kenneth Mak. READ MORE HERE Covid-19 vaccines are 40% effective against infection in S'pore, 'very effective' against severe illness There has been a sevenfold reduction in the rate of severe infections or death among those vaccinated. READ MORE HERE More on this topic Related Story ST newsletters: Get alerts on the latest news SingPost Centre death: Signs with emergency number put up on walls of stairwell The signs were not there on Thursday when ST checked. READ MORE HERE Can racial harmony in Singapore be fostered by law? The new law will go beyond punishment to incorporate "softer and gentler touches" that focus on persuasion and rehabilitation. READ MORE HERE Needle-free DNA vaccine may be key in India’s Covid-19 fight However, it was approved ahead of any detailed clinical trial data being published and before the efficacy trial is complete. READ MORE HERE No exams, no tuition - will Chinese kids be stress-free? China and India aim to reform its hyper-competitive education system. Asian Insider looks at how feasible the changes are. READ MORE HERE Taliban sources say last Afghan holdout region falls; resistance denies claim If true, it would give the Taliban complete control of Afghanistan. READ MORE HERE EU lifts ban on feeding animal remains to some livestock The ban has been in place since the "Mad Cow" disease food scare 20 years ago. READ MORE HERE Jail for 'vigilante' who assaulted boy after wrongly accusing him of unlawfully cycling on track The offender, 67, slapped the child and punched him hard about five to eight times. READ MORE HERE
SINGAPORE - The BHG department store in Bugis Junction was shut on Wednesday (Aug 25) for cleaning and disinfecting works after a member of its staff tested positive for Covid-19. The Ministry of Health (MOH) had announced on Tuesday 20 new infections linked to the shopping mall. A spokesman for Bugis Junction, which announced the temporary closure of the department store on Facebook, said: "We are currently awaiting more details from MOH and affected shops." Meanwhile, the mall has "taken the necessary environmental cleaning measures in accordance with the authority's guidelines", the spokesman added. It includes increasing the frequency of cleaning common touchpoints, and enhancing air circulation in the mall by conducting daily air purging and fully opening air dampers to maximise outdoor air intake. These are among the guidelines spelt out in a directive issued by the Building and Construction Authority, National Environment Agency and MOH in May. Ms Koong Wei Heong, who works at Ya Kun Kaya Toast at the mall, said: "We are feeling pretty calm because we get tested every two weeks. We were just tested on Aug 20," added the 47-year-old. Ms Koong was referring to the fast and easy test (FET) workers in higher-risk settings, like dine-in eateries, have to undergo every 14 days. FET uses tests such as antigen rapid tests. She added that she is waiting to find out if she needs a swab test as well, following the emergence of a cluster linked to the mall. "Not many people visited the mall on Wednesday. They are probably afraid after hearing news of the cluster," said Ms Koong. More on this topic Related Story New Covid-19 cluster at Bugis Junction with 20 staff infected; free testing for visitors Related Story S'pore must chart own path in reopening, living with Covid-19: Lawrence Wong
SINGAPORE - Safra Tampines will remain open even though it has formed a new cluster with a total of nine Covid-19 cases as at Thursday (Aug 12). In a statement to The Straits Times, Safra said that six individuals who had tested positive for the coronavirus were last at Safra Tampines from Aug 6 to 10. All identified close contacts of these cases have been quarantined, it added. Areas visited by the affected individuals had also been disinfected according to the National Environment Agency's guidelines. The club said that safe management measures will continue to be in place at all Safra premises. This includes limiting group sizes to five individuals. Unvaccinated individuals are advised to keep to groups of no more than two people. Fully vaccinated individuals can dine-in at all food and beverage establishments in up to groups of five. They can also participate in some indoor activities without a mask, such as badminton and squash. These are part of Safra's differentiated measures for the vaccinated, according to the club's website. MOH also announced a new cluster on Thursday at My First Skool at 54 Chin Swee Road. There are now 119 active clusters islandwide, ranging between three and 1,151 infections. More on this topic Related Story Superland Pre-School closed after 5 children, 1 staff member get Covid-19 Related Story First case in Westlite Juniper dorm Covid-19 cluster detected through rostered routine testing
SINGAPORE - Crowds were seen at several local hospitals, but most were there for outpatient treatment on Thursday (Aug 5), the first day of the barring of visits to hospital wards islandwide. The Straits Times observed only a few people at the ward registration counters of Singapore General Hospital, Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) and KK Women's and Children's Hospital. Visits to hospital wards are not allowed from Aug 5 to 18 to stem further Covid-19 transmission after clusters involving staff and patients have emerged at Changi General Hospital (CGH) and Yishun Community Hospital (YCH). A spokesman for TTSH said on Thursday that it has communicated the change in visiting policy to all its patients and their families. "They are generally understanding of the need. All visitors have to be registered before they can enter our wards. We will reiterate the importance of this change in policy at our counters and seek our visitors' cooperation to keep our patients and staff safe," said the spokesman. Four patient groups are exempted from this rule on a case-by-case basis. They include patients who are very ill, patients who are babies or children, as well as mothers who are due to give birth or have delivered. Patients requiring additional care support from caregivers will also be exempted, but only one visitor is allowed each day for a duration of no more than 30 minutes at the patient's bedside. They include visitors helping patients who have mental incapacities and family members who are undergoing caregiver training. Visitors who need to stay beyond 30 minutes for reasons such as caregiver training will be allowed only after they have tested negative on a supervised antigen rapid test. They should take the test a maximum of 24 hours before their visit. The ministry had announced a cluster of four cases at YCH on Sunday. The infections broke out in a ward with 32 patients who are mostly above 60 years old. A new cluster of three cases was reported at CGH on Tuesday - three days after the Ministry of Health closed another cluster there which had 20 cases. The recent wave of infections follows Singapore's first hospital cluster at TTSH in April, which led to the hospital halting admissions for two weeks as the number of cases grew to 46. More on this topic Related Story YCH Covid-19 cluster: 4 cases found in ward with most patients over 60 Related Story New Covid-19 cluster in CGH ward; patients can continue with outpatient visits Related Stories: Related Story China's Wuhan to test 'all residents' as Covid-19 returns Related Story Hong Kong recalibrates Covid-19 strategy to maintain zero-infection record Related Story S'pore team finds drug cocktail effective against Covid-19 Delta variant Related Story Covid-19 Delta variant is as contagious as chickenpox, says CDC internal report Related Story French government minister injects fellow minister with Covid-19 shot Related Story Vaccines still best weapon as Delta threatens gains: WHO Related Story 'Photos of bodies stacked at hospitals are real': Malaysia undertakers struggle as Covid-19 deaths soar Related Story Covid-19 vaccine in a tablet - the next leap in the battle against deadly virus Related Story Flawed scientific papers fuelling Covid-19 misinformation Related Story Five pandemic truths that defy intuition
SINGAPORE - Phylogenetic testing compares different virus genomes and helps scientists deduce the index case of a Covid-19 cluster. In the case of the Jurong Fishery Port cluster, the authorities were able to determine that the strains relating to the cluster were of the Delta variant and similar to what was seen in imported cases from Indonesia. Dr Sebastian Maurer-Stroh, executive director of the Bioinformatics Institute at A*Star, said a phylogenetic or "family" tree is created using viral mutations as markers to compare the virus genomes. In this family tree, close relatives are grouped together and one can then see which cases had formed a cluster - in this way, one can then deduce the ancestor of a cluster, said Dr Maurer-Stroh. Through real-time sharing of genomes globally via the Gisaid data-sharing platform, one can also understand transmission between countries by comparing the virus genome from different countries, he added. Dr Gavin Smith, a professor in the Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme at Duke-NUS Medical School Singapore, said phylogenetics is able to compare how related different virus genomes are, based on the similarities or differences in their RNA sequences. "Because the Sars-CoV-2 virus has many different genetic mutations, computationally we are able to determine these relationships with a high degree of confidence," he said. Associate Professor Raymond Lin, director of the National Public Health Laboratory at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID), added that the sequences should cover about 90 per cent of the whole virus genome for good phylogenetic analysis. Phylogenetic tests had also suggested that the clusters linked to the Jurong Fishery Port and several wet markets may not have been due to a single point of introduction of infection, Singapore's director of medical services, Associate Professor Kenneth Mak, had said at a press conference on July 20. Instead, exposure may have occurred over some time with multiple points of infection, as the genetic information for the variants was not identical across the different cases. However, the authorities were not able to determine how long this period might have been and who could have been a specific super-spreader leading to the large cluster with more than 1,000 cases. This means there were likely multiple infected people who had introduced multiple slightly different viruses, said Dr Smith. "The high mutation rate of the Sars-CoV-2 virus means there are many differences that can be used to compare and distinguish between strains," he said. More on this topic Related Story Transmission via contaminated surface at Jurong Fishery Port possible, but may not be main route Related Story Short-term visit pass holder from Vietnam is first Covid-19 case linked to KTV cluster Dr Mark Chen, a consultant at the National Public Health and Epidemiology Unit at NCID, said that while the viral sequences most closely resemble sequences reported in cases from Indonesia, only a small proportion of cases in the South-east Asian region have sequences that are publicly available. "Moreover, the genetic sequences alone cannot tell us how the infection entered Singapore, and other investigations are ongoing into how this happened," he said.
SINGAPORE - A new Covid-19 cluster in a Changi General Hospital (CGH) ward was announced on Tuesday night (Aug 3), but hospital operations are running normally and patients can continue with their outpatient appointments, said CGH on Wednesday morning (Aug 4). “With proactive and regular testing in the hospital, we have detected three patient cases of Covid-19 in a ward,” the hospital said in a Facebook post. A total of three cases are linked to the cluster, with two new cases linked to it on Tuesday. The new cluster comes just three days after MOH said on Saturday it had closed the previous CGH cluster with 20 cases linked to it. The new cluster is not linked to the previous one. The hospital added that contact tracing and additional surveillance swab tests for patients and staff are routine, and all test results have been negative for the virus so far. Cleaning of affected areas has been completed and infection control protocols are in place, the hospital said. It added in its Facebook post: "As Covid-19 becomes endemic and vaccination rates increase, the testing and detection of Covid-19 is the new normal. "We continue to adapt in the new normal and remain vigilant and committed to ensuring the safety of our patients, our colleagues and our community. We are grateful for the support and understanding of our community here in the East, and for the cooperation of our patients in being routinely tested." The Straits Times has contacted the hospital for more information. More on this topic Related Story Patients, visitors not worried about Covid-19 cluster as Changi General Hospital steps up measures Related Story 13 people test positive for Covid-19 at 5 community surveillance testing sites Related Stories: Related Story China's Wuhan to test 'all residents' as Covid-19 returns Related Story Hong Kong recalibrates Covid-19 strategy to maintain zero-infection record Related Story S'pore team finds drug cocktail effective against Covid-19 Delta variant Related Story Covid-19 Delta variant is as contagious as chickenpox, says CDC internal report Related Story French government minister injects fellow minister with Covid-19 shot Related Story Vaccines still best weapon as Delta threatens gains: WHO Related Story 'Photos of bodies stacked at hospitals are real': Malaysia undertakers struggle as Covid-19 deaths soar Related Story Covid-19 vaccine in a tablet - the next leap in the battle against deadly virus Related Story Flawed scientific papers fuelling Covid-19 misinformation Related Story Five pandemic truths that defy intuition
LONDON (REUTERS) - Manchester United have cancelled their pre-season friendly at Preston North End on Saturday after a small number of suspected positive Covid-19 cases at the club, the Premier League side said on Thursday (July 29). United drew 2-2 with Brentford on Wednesday and detected the cases following routine testing of the team. The game was called off as a precautionary measure based on Covid-19 protocols, United said, with identified individuals now isolating pending further tests. "At this stage, we do not expect further disruption around our forthcoming matches, but we will continue to follow Premier League protocols in this regard," the club added. United only remaining pre-season friendly is against Everton at Old Trafford Aug 7, a week before they host Leeds United in their Premier League season opener. More on this topic Related Story Football: Man City cancel pre-season friendly in France due to quarantine Related Story Coronavirus microsite: Get latest updates, videos and graphics Related Stories: Related Story Malaysians fear possible Covid-19 cluster from crowded KLCC vaccination centre Related Story Dying at home: With hospitals full, Indonesians forgo much-needed Covid-19 treatment Related Story 77% of seniors aged 60 and above fully vaccinated against Covid-19 Related Story Covid-19 Delta variant drives virus spread to three China provinces Related Story 10 new Covid-19 clusters in S'pore including stainless steel supplier; Punggol Primary cluster grows to 12 Related Story Punggol Primary-linked Covid-19 cluster grows to 12; mandatory swabbing for pupils, staff Related Story Village Hotel Sentosa becomes 6th Covid-19 community care facility
SINGAPORE - One new community case linked to the Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) cluster has been reported on Friday (May 14). The patient was in quarantine when the case was detected, said the Health Ministry's director of medical services, Associate Professor Kenneth Mak at a press conference by the multi-ministry task force tackling Covid-19. No cases outside the quarantine net for the cluster associated with Ward 9D were detected. Ward 9D, a C class ward with 35 to 40 patients, is the nucleus of the outbreak. About two-thirds of the patients in this ward contracted Covid-19 while being treated for other conditions. There were 44 cases linked to the cluster on Thursday night, according to the Ministry of Health (MOH). Mr Mak said the TTSH cluster is reaching one incubation period. "If we continue to not see any cases, we will see how we can bring the hospital to normal operations progressively in the next few weeks.". More details on the case will be released on Friday evening. The TTSH cluster is Singapore's first hospital cluster. It comprises staff, patients and their close contacts. Close to 28,000 people have been tested in the effort to detect cases linked to it, said Health Minister Gan Kim Yong, who co-chairs the taskforce. The cluster emerged on April 27 following the diagnosis of a nurse who works in Ward 9D, a general ward. Prior to Friday's case, the last addition to the cluster was a 64-year-old Singaporean woman who was warded at Ward 9D from April 26 and moved to NCID on April 28. She was identified as a close contact of a previous case and placed on quarantine on April 29. The woman was discharged on May 2 and continued to be on quarantine. She tested positive for Covid-19 on May 11 during quarantine.
SINGAPORE - As at Monday (May 10), close to 12,500 people have been tested as part of special testing operations carried out to detect any cases linked to the Tan Tock Seng Hopsital (TTSH) cluster. Additionally, 12,000 TTSH staff and 1,000 patients, as well as close to 2,500 individuals who have been quarantined, have also been tested, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said in Parliament on Tuesday. Giving an update on the cluster, Mr Gan stressed that though the first detected case of the cluster was a staff nurse who developed symptoms on April 28 and dutifully reported them, this does not mean that she was the first confirmed case and had brought Covid-19 into the wards. "Her responsible act enabled us to pick up the cluster at TTSH," said Mr Gan, adding that investigations are still ongoing. Of the 43 cases in the TTSH cluster, seven staff and two patients had received full doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, said Mr Gan, who is co-chair of the multi-ministry task force tackling Covid-19. "They were all either asymptomatic, or only exhibited mild symptoms, and none of them required oxygen support," he noted. Of the remaining 34 who were not fully vaccinated, six required oxygen, two are in intensive care and one has died from Covid-19 complications. "While the numbers are too small to draw firm conclusions, the findings do indicate that vaccination provides critical protection even against Covid-19 variants," said Mr Gan, urging people to get vaccinated when the jab is offered to them, as well as to continue to comply with safe management measures even when they have been vaccinated. "We know while vaccination does not eliminate the risks of infection totally, it does provide significant protection against infections, and helps to reduce the severity of the disease. It is also likely to reduce onward transmission," he added. Mr Gan also outlined how efforts had been made to contain and isolate the infections at TTSH, so that they do not spread to the larger community. First, close contacts around the first detected case were quarantined, while others who could have been in contact with her were tested, including all staff and patients of the affected Ward 9D. Testing and quarantine were also extended to all staff who worked in Ward 9D from April 20, as well as discharged and current inpatients and visitors to Ward 9D from April 20. This was after the detection of a patient who had entered the ward on April 20 and started to display Covid-19 pneumonia symptoms around April 20. Testing was also expanded to include all inpatients and all staff working in the main ward block. Subsequently, all other TTSH staff were also screened, and as an additional precaution, patients and staff from the main ward block were retested. An additional layer of defence was also put in place, with discharged patients and visitors who were in the hospital during the affected period also invited to be tested. More on this topic Related Story Hospitals in S'pore embark on mass Covid-19 swabbing of staff Related Story How TTSH responded to a nurse getting Covid-19 They were not close contacts and hence had a lower risk of infection, but they were offered testing out of an abundance of caution and to give them peace of mind, said Mr Gan. For every case detected, those around them were also tested and isolated, and all wards that had exposure to infectious cases were locked down, including wards in levels eight and nine, and wards 7D and 10B. "We will continue to monitor these individuals who have been exposed, and retest them where necessary as some of them may be incubating the infection," said the minister. He added that TTSH has implemented a series of measures to prevent further spread within the hospital. It has stopped all new admissions to the hospital, restricted visitors, and reinforced the need for all staff to comply with infection control, hand hygiene and personal protective equipment regimes. Follow ST's live coverage of the ministerial statements on Singapore's Covid-19 situation. 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SINGAPORE - A total of 26 public places visited by Covid-19 patients linked to the Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) cluster have undergone deep cleaning and disinfection. Officers from the National Environment Agency (NEA) were deployed to monitor the cleaning and disinfection works to ensure that they were done according to NEA's guidelines, the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment said in a statement on Tuesday (May 4). The statement also disclosed that four food and beverage outlets had been ordered to close following stepped-up enforcement checks by the authorities over the weekend. These are Club Peaches, Alive @ SG Pub, Tangmen Restaurant and Club Empire. All the establishments except Club Empire are repeat offenders, and all four are located in Orchard Road. This is the second time that the three repeat offenders have had to close. All had breached Covid-19 rules such as allowing customers to intermingle and serving alcohol after 10.30pm. Eleven individuals were also fined over the weekend for breaching measures at F&B outlets. Nine of them committed their offences at Club Peaches. The remaining two were fined $300 each for not wearing a mask at Tekka Centre despite multiple warnings from enforcement officers. Club Peaches was found to have engaged hostesses, who intermingled with different groups of patrons across multiple tables on Feb 26, 2021. PHOTO: SINGAPORE TOURISM BOARD The ministry's statement on Tuesday said another 10 F&B outlets were fined for breaching safe management measures, while 63 people were fined for breaching such measures at parks and beaches. "The fight against Covid-19 will be a long-drawn and difficult one," said the ministry. It added that the resurgent waves of infection in many countries were sobering reminders of the potentially devastating threat posed by the pandemic. "We seek everyone's cooperation to remain socially responsible and unwavering in our fight against Covid-19," it said. More on this topic Related Story Stores in Novena malls say crowds have thinned since TTSH cluster emerged, shoppers there unfazed Related Story Hospitals to take on extra load, defer non-urgent surgical operations as TTSH cluster grows Related Stories: Related Story Hospitals to take on extra load, defer non-urgent surgical operations as TTSH cluster grows Related Story TTSH Covid-19 cluster: What we know so far Related Story Anguish, anger in India with lives lost to Covid-19 due to lack of medical help Related Story SingHealth stepping up screening of patients and visitors; hospitals vigilant following TTSH Covid-19 cluster Related Story Limit gatherings to 2 a day, tighter crowd controls at malls: New Covid-19 measures at a glance Related Story BioNTech expects Covid-19 vaccine trial results for babies by September Related Story China administering more Covid-19 vaccines than anywhere else, but still needs to speed up roll-out Related Story S'pore-Hong Kong air travel bubble to start on May 26 Related Story Brazil hits 82,000 Covid-19 deaths in April, new monthly record Related Story Nepal halts all domestic, international flights in effort to curb huge Covid-19 spike Related Story Covid-19 vaccine doses pass one billion mark as global cases top new record
SINGAPORE - Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) has stopped admitting new patients from Tuesday (May 4). The hospital is fighting to contain a growing Covid-19 cluster with 35 linked patients as of Monday night. On Monday, the Ministry of Health said that other hospitals - both public and private - would be helping to take on the load as patients are diverted from TTSH. MOH has also asked all hospitals to defer non-urgent surgical operations and admissions, as well as non-urgent specialist outpatient clinic appointments, until further notice. TTSH said in a Facebook post on Tuesday morning that those requiring urgent care should visit a GP or the nearest care facility. "We seek your kind understanding that this will allow us to focus on containing this Covid-19 hospital cluster, conserve our manpower and continue supporting the pandemic response at our National Centre for Infectious Diseases during this period," it said. The hospital added that it would continue to review its measures with the Ministry and take all necessary actions for the safety of its patients and staff. The TTSH cluster formed last week after a nurse at the hospital's ward 9D was confirmed to have Covid-19 on April 28. Since then, another 34 people have been added to the cluster. One of them, an 88-year-old patient who was at ward 9D, has died. More on this topic Related Story Singapore hospitals tighten rules for those who have visited TTSH Related Story No point in Covid-19 rules if hospital visitors allowed to take masks off for food or drinks Related Stories: Related Story Hospitals to take on extra load, defer non-urgent surgical operations as TTSH cluster grows Related Story TTSH Covid-19 cluster: What we know so far Related Story Anguish, anger in India with lives lost to Covid-19 due to lack of medical help Related Story SingHealth stepping up screening of patients and visitors; hospitals vigilant following TTSH Covid-19 cluster Related Story Limit gatherings to 2 a day, tighter crowd controls at malls: New Covid-19 measures at a glance Related Story BioNTech expects Covid-19 vaccine trial results for babies by September Related Story China administering more Covid-19 vaccines than anywhere else, but still needs to speed up roll-out Related Story S'pore-Hong Kong air travel bubble to start on May 26 Related Story Brazil hits 82,000 Covid-19 deaths in April, new monthly record Related Story Nepal halts all domestic, international flights in effort to curb huge Covid-19 spike Related Story Covid-19 vaccine doses pass one billion mark as global cases top new record
Good morning! Here are our top stories to kick-start your Tuesday, May 4. Hospitals to take on extra load, defer non-urgent surgical operations as TTSH cluster grows Ministry of Health has worked with the public and private hospitals here to make sure that patients requiring care will continue to be attended to. READ MORE HERE A&E nurse among 8 staff and patients linked to TTSH Covid-19 cluster The five patients warded in TTSH Ward 9D were transferred to the NCID for isolation on April 28. READ MORE HERE Bill and Melinda Gates to divorce after 27 years of marriage At stake is the world’s fourth-biggest fortune, currently valued at US$145.8 billion (S$193.8 billion). READ MORE HERE More on this topic Related Story ST newsletters: Get alerts on the latest news Stores in Novena malls say crowds have thinned since TTSH cluster emerged, shoppers there unfazed However, diners and shoppers said they were not overly concerned about the TTSH cluster. READ MORE HERE Long lines and waiting times for free Covid-19 testing in wake of TTSH cluster Free swab tests have been extended to patients and visitors of TTSH, and those who were in public places visited by cases. READ MORE HERE Reaching Covid-19 'herd immunity' is unlikely in the US, experts now believe There is widespread consensus that the herd immunity threshold is not attainable - at least not in the foreseeable future. READ MORE HERE 1 in 4 PSLE pupils last year applied for place under Direct School Admission scheme 3,600 of them were admitted to schools through the scheme. READ MORE HERE Clash of the tech unicorns in Indonesia Cut-throat competition in the digital business has intensified in the areas of food delivery, e-commerce and payment services. READ MORE HERE Law don looks at key aspect of High Court decision in Parti Liyani's case He has argued that, based on precedents, there may be theft of a discarded item. READ MORE HERE Eat and drink your fill on these food, nature and cycling tours Here are some SingapoRediscover-eligible tours where you can eat your fill without topping up cash. READ MORE HERE
SINGAPORE - Both Singapore General Hospital (SGH) and Sengkang General Hospital (SKH) have reported a high number of patients at their emergency departments. SKH has said its wards are now running at full capacity. SGH posted about the surge in patients on Facebook on Friday (April 30) morning, while SKH posted on Saturday morning. Both posts said priority will be given to those who are critically ill, and the waiting times for other patients are expected to be longer. Each patient is also allowed only one companion. The post by SKH said: "Our wards are also running at full capacity at the moment." Both hospitals said those with conditions that are not critical are advised to seek medical care at a general practitioner or a polyclinic. SKH has about 1,000 beds, while SGH has about 1,700. It is not known if the sudden surge in patients is related to the recent developments at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, which now has four wards locked down following the discovery of a Covid-19 cluster there. Both SGH and SKH are under the SingHealth group. The Straits Times has contacted it for more information. More on this topic Related Story Covid-19 cluster at TTSH of concern, but no need to be overly worried: Experts Related Story TTSH Covid-19 cluster: All patients and 4,500 staff to be swabbed by this weekend Related Stories: Related Story Limit gatherings to 2 a day, tighter crowd controls at malls: New Covid-19 measures at a glance Related Story TTSH Covid-19 cluster: What we know so far Related Story New Covid-19 cluster involves 7 family members of infected ICA officer who met over meal Related Story BioNTech expects Covid-19 vaccine trial results for babies by September Related Story China administering more Covid-19 vaccines than anywhere else, but still needs to speed up roll-out Related Story S'pore-Hong Kong air travel bubble to start on May 26 Related Story India's Covid-19 deaths will rise sharply till mid-May: US study Related Story Philippines logs over one million Covid-19 cases in new, grim milestone Related Story Burned out, numb, helpless: India doctors bear grim witness to unfolding Covid-19 tragedy Related Story Covid-19 vaccine doses pass one billion mark as global cases top new record Related Story 'The system is broken': Covid-19 patients die on trolleys outside Delhi hospital amid second wave
Good morning! Here are our top stories to kick-start your Friday, April 30. TTSH Covid-19 cluster grows to 9 people; 2 wards locked down to stem spread A doctor, a healthcare assistant trainee and six patients are linked to a nurse working there who tested positive. READ MORE HERE New Covid-19 cluster involves 7 family members of infected ICA officer who met over meal The cases include his wife, a TTSH nurse who does not work in wards affected by the hospital cluster. READ MORE HERE New Covid-19 clusters: Who's in the TTSH and ICA officer-linked clusters Among them is a three-year-old boy, who is the nephew of the ICA officer. READ MORE HERE More on this topic Related Story ST newsletters: Get alerts on the latest news Vaccinated cleaner at care facility among Singapore's new community Covid-19 cases The Vietnamese national also helps out at a food stall at NUS. READ MORE HERE NUS foodcourt, City Harvest Church and popular malls among locations visited by Covid-19 patients Malls such as Junction 8, Ang Mo Kio Hub and VivoCity were also added to the list. READ MORE HERE India accepts oxygen supply from 40 countries, including Singapore, amid new Covid-19 wave Singapore sent 256 oxygen cylinders and four cryogenic oxygen containers. READ MORE HERE Mike Pence steps out from Trump's shadow as he tests waters for 2024 Mr Pence is making his first public appearance in South Carolina since leaving office. READ MORE HERE Reserving some jobs for Singaporean PMEs among measures being considered: NTUC's Ng Chee Meng The NTUC is also looking at designing a form of unemployment insurance scheme through NTUC Income. READ MORE HERE Novena Global Healthcare's Terence Loh has $70 million debt, seeks interim order to stave off bankruptcy The creditors include Maybank, Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank, DBS Bank and UOB Bank. READ MORE HERE Fashion fades but style is eternal: 8 vogue items which have stood the test of time Trends come and go with the seasons, but true style always finds a permanent place on vanities and in hearts. READ MORE HERE
A fully vaccinated woman who was working as a cleaner at a community care facility in Tuas South was the sole unlinked case out of the 16 community cases announced by the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Thursday (April 29). The 39-year-old Vietnamese national dons full personal protective equipment while at work - including an N95 mask, face shield, gown and gloves. She also periodically helps out at a food stall at The Summit located at the National University of Singapore's Bukit Timah campus. She received her first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine on Jan 27, and the second dose on Feb 19. MOH said that while the Covid-19 vaccine is effective in preventing symptomatic disease for the vast majority of those vaccinated, it is possible for vaccinated individuals to get infected. The woman had been asymptomatic, but her case was picked up when she was tested on Monday as part of rostered routine testing, MOH said. Her pooled test result came back positive for Covid-19 the next day, and she was taken by ambulance to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases. An individual test was done on Tuesday and her test result came back positive for Covid-19 infection. Her earlier tests from the routine screening - the last being on April 14 - were all negative for Covid-19 infection, the ministry added. The other 15 community cases announced by MOH on Thursday were linked to existing clusters. Eight of them - two staff and six patients - were linked to the nurse at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) who was working at Ward 9D, a general ward. These cases had mainly been detected by MOH's proactive testing of patients and staff in the affected ward. Measures have been put in place at the hospital to prevent further transmission, including barring visitors from entering the hospital except for critically ill patients. The other seven community cases were family members of a prior Covid-19 case - a 38-year-old Immigration and Checkpoints Authority officer - that MOH had announced on Wednesday. The ministry said that the man and his family had gathered for a meal on Sunday, when the transmission was likely to have taken place. More on this topic Related Story New Covid-19 clusters: Who's in the TTSH and ICA officer-linked clusters Related Story New Covid-19 cluster involves 7 family members of infected ICA officer who met over meal MOH also reported 19 imported cases on Thursday, including two Singaporeans and nine permanent residents. There are also three dependant's pass holders and five work permit holders, including a foreign domestic worker. All had been placed on stay-home notice upon arrival in Singapore and were tested while serving it. There are currently 110 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and none is in the intensive care unit. More on this topic Related Story NUS foodcourt, City Harvest Church and popular malls among locations visited by Covid-19 patients Related Story TTSH Covid-19 cluster grows to 9 people; 2 wards locked down to stem spread Related Stories: Related Story TTSH Covid-19 cluster grows to 9 people; 2 wards locked down to stem spread Related Story New Covid-19 cluster involves 7 family members of infected ICA officer who met over meal Related Story Covid-19 cluster at TTSH of concern, but no need to be overly worried: Experts Related Story BioNTech expects Covid-19 vaccine trial results for babies by September Related Story China administering more Covid-19 vaccines than anywhere else, but still needs to speed up roll-out Related Story S'pore-Hong Kong air travel bubble to start on May 26 Related Story India's Covid-19 deaths will rise sharply till mid-May: US study Related Story Philippines logs over one million Covid-19 cases in new, grim milestone Related Story Burned out, numb, helpless: India doctors bear grim witness to unfolding Covid-19 tragedy Related Story Covid-19 vaccine doses pass one billion mark as global cases top new record Related Story 'The system is broken': Covid-19 patients die on trolleys outside Delhi hospital amid second wave
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