COVID-19: Singapore reports 22nd death

In a statement issued late Saturday, the republic's Ministry of Health (MOH) said the latest death case involved a 67 year-old male Singaporean who died on May 15 at Sengkang General Hospital.

Identified as Case 1,516, the victim was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on April 7, and had a history of ischaemic heart disease, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia.

Singapore reported its first two COVID-19 deaths on March 21.

For Saturday, the republic has confirmed and verified an additional 465 cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore, bringing the total count to 27,356.

The ministry said the lower number of cases on Saturday was partly due to fewer tests being processed as one testing laboratory is reviewing its processes following an earlier apparatus calibration issue, and will need time to ramp up its testing capacity.

Of the 465 cases yesterday, no imported cases were reported, five cases were from among the community, three were work permit holders residing outside dorms and 457 foreign workers in dorms.

There are currently 1,111 confirmed cases who are still in hospital with most stable or improving while 16 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit, said the statement.

Meanwhile, 17,881 cases with mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still tested positive for COVID-19 have been isolated and cared for at community facilities.

The republic identified three more new clusters yesterday, while its largest cluster, S11 Dormitory @ Punggol, has a total of 2,569 confirmed cases so far.