TR EMERITUS

The Ministry of Heath (MOH) has confirmed and verified an additional 741 cases of COVID-19: Imported Cases: 0 (total 579) Dormitory Cases: 725 (total 18,483) Community Cases *: 16 (total 1,877) Community Un-linked **: 9 (total 745) * Cases in the community regardless of nationality and excluding "Dormitory Cases". ** Un-linked cases in the community regardless of nationality and excluding "Dormitory Cases". Total indicates the number of cases that are still currently un-linked.  Healthcare Workers Infected Case 20737 is a 33 year-old female Singaporean who was confirmed infected on 6th May, and is currently warded at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).  She was a healthcare assistant at Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Case 20844 is a 43 year-old male Singaporean who was confirmed infected 7th May, and is currently warded at NCID. He was working as a radiographer at the community care facility at Singapore EXPO. There are currently a total of 4 healthcare workers infected at Singapore EXPO. Status of Confirmed Cases Isolated ***: 17,831 Hospitalised: 1,376 Discharged From Hospital: 1,712 Death Due To COVID-19: 20 Death Not Due To COVID-19: 6 Of the total confirmed cases, 19 are in critical condition. ***  Isolated and cared for at community facilities. These are those who have mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still tested positive for COVID-19. Known Clusters An additional 6 (new) clusters were announced, bringing the total number of known clusters to 188. Item Location of Cluster Cases New 1 S11 Dormitory  @  Punggol (2 Seletar North Link) 2529 2 Tuas View Dormitory @ 70 Tuas South Avenue 1 1164 3 Sungei Tengah Lodge @ 500 Old Choa Chu Kang Road 1053 4 Jurong Penjuru Dormitory @ 58 Penjuru Place 478 5 Kranji Lodge I @ 12 Kranji Road 418 6 Changi Lodge II @ 80 Tanah Merah Coast Road 415 7 Hulett Dormitory @ 20 Senoko Drive 410 8 Westlite Mandai @ 34 Mandai Estate 381 9 North Coast Lodge @ 51 North Coast Avenue 373 10 Cochrane Lodge II @ 49 Admiralty Road West 358 11 Mandai Lodge I @ 460 Mandai Road 356 12 Woodlands Lodge I @ 50 Woodlands Industrial park E4 339 13 Seatown Dormitory @ 69H Tuas South Avenue 1 330 14 Westlite Toh Guan dormitory @ 18 Toh Guan Road East 301 15 PPT Lodge 1A @ 8 Seletar North Link 288 16 Kian Teck Dormitory (26 Kian Teck Avenue) 262 17 Cochrane Lodge I @ 51 Admiralty Road West 257 18 CDPL Tuas Dormitory @ 6 Tuas South Street 15 246 19 Avery Lodge Dormitory @ 2D Jalan Papan 241 20 Homestay Lodge @ 39 Kaki Bukit Avenue 3 229 21 31 Sungei Kadut Avenue dormitory 214 22 Woodlands Lodge II @ 190 Woodlands Industrial Park E7 208 23 SJ Dormitory @ 180 Woodlands Industrial Park E5 195 24 Tuas South Dormitory @ 1 Tuas South Street 12 192 25 10 Shaw Road Industrial Building 185 24 Apr 26 Toh Guan Dormitory @ 19A Toh Guan Road East 183 27 21B Senoko Loop (Tellus Industrial Complex,) 176 28 Alaunia Lodge @ Admiralty Road West 171 24 Apr 29 Shaw Lodge @ 12 Shaw Road 164 30 8 Sungei Kadut Avenue Industrial Building 145 31 Acacia Lodge @ 530-540 Bukit Batok Street 23 144 32 32 Tuas View Square Industrial building 142 33 SSKBJV Dormitory @ 31A Tanah Merah Coast Road 142 24 Apr 34 2 Sungei Kadut Avenue Industrial Building 141 24 Apr 35 13 Senoko Way Industrial Building 140 36 Cassia @ 15 Penjuru Walk 136 37 Sembawang Shipyard @ Admiralty Road West 133 38 3 Sungei Kadut Street 6 133 26 Apr 39 10 Gul Drive Commercial Building 133 30 Apr 40 Kenyon/ UBS construction site @ 9 Penang Road 132 41 21 Tuas View Square Commercial Buildinig 131 2 May 42 17 Sungei Kadut Street 4 (Group Industries) 125 43 Tech Park Crescent dormitory @ 43 Tech Park Crescent 124 44 Mustafa Centre @ 145 Syed Alwi Road 124 45 Woodlands Dormitory @ 27 Woodlands Sector 1 123 46 Jurong Apartments @ 553 Upper Jurong Road 119 47 SCM Tuas Lodge @ 80 Tuas South Boulevard 113 25 Apr 48 4 Sungei Kadut Street 2 (Teacly Building) 109 49 Tampines Dormitory @ 2 Tampines Place 98 50 85 Kallang Dormitory @ 85 Kallang Avenue 98 51 Leo dormitory @ 23 Kaki Bukit Road 3 98 52 Kranji Dormitory @ 17 Kranji Way 92 53 17 Jalan Besut Industrial Building 90 54 61 Senoko Drive Industrial Building 87 55 Westlite Woodlands Dormitory @ 2 Woodlands Sector 2 86 56 Project Glory construction site 82 57 59 Sungei Kadut Loop Commercial Buildinig 82 58 107 West Coast Vale Construction Site 80 25 Apr 59 15 Tuas View Square (Matex) 78 1 May 60 Tampines Street 62 77 6 May 61 The Jovell construction site 76 62 33 Sungei Kadut Loop (Zap Piling Industrial Building) 73 28 Apr 63 21 Defu South Street 1 (Soilbuild Prefab Innovation Hub) 70 25 Apr 64 2 Tuas South Street 2 (Sprintecs Industrial Building) 67 2 May 65 11 Tuas Avenue 10 Commercial Buildinig 65 24 Apr 66 Lingjack Dormitory @ 1 Woodlands Terrace 64 27 Apr 67 23H Sungei Kadut Street 1 61 28 Apr 68 18 Sungei Kadut Avenue Industrial Building 60 69 Pesko Engineering Pte Ltd @ 2 Joo Koon Road 60 70 17 Shaw Road Dormitory (Poh Wah Group) 60 29 Apr 71 36 Tuas View Square Factory Building 57 72 5 Fourth Chin Bee Road 55 6 May 73 10 Kian Teck Crescent dormitory 51 74 16 Tuas Avenue 3 51 2 May 75 12 Loyang Drive (Jackly) 50 76 Melody Springs construction site @ 477A Yishun Street 44 50 4 May 77 Proptech Pte Ltd @ 38 Senoko Road 50 26 Apr 78 SAFRA Jurong (private singing event) 47 79 36 Woodlands Industrial Park E1 47 80 Kian Teck Hostel @ 30 Kian Teck Avenue 47 25 Apr 81 2 Fan Yoong Road Commercial Building 47 30 Apr 82 182 Woodlands Industrial Park E5 47 29 Apr 83 5 Kian Teck Crescent 46 26 Apr 84 51 Paya Ubi Industrial Park 42 85 20 Sungei Kadut Avenue 42 1 May 86 4 Sungei Kadut Avenue Industrial Building 42 7 May 87 Hai Leck Engineering Pte Ltd @ 9 Tuas Avenue 1 41 4 May 88 5 Tech Park Crescent 40 7 May 89 Westlite Juniper @ 23 Mandai Estate 39 24 Apr 90 3 Senoko Link (Wing Tuck) 36 27 Apr 91 148 Woodlands Industrial Park E5 35 1 May 92 10 Kranji Link (Siong Kee Building) 34 93 33 Senoko Way Dormitory (Poh Wah Group) 34 29 Apr 94 11 Defu Lane 1 (Defu Industrial Park A) 33 29 Apr 95 TTJ Design & Engineering Pte Ltd @ 57 Pioneer Road 33 96 Clementi N2C3 construction site 32 5 May 97 JTC Space @ Tuas (16 Tuas Avenue 1) 32 30 Apr 98 40 Tuas View Square Commercial Building 31 99 23 Kaki Bukit Road 6 (Greyform Building) 31 30 Apr 100 98 Kaki Bukit Industrial Terrace 31 7 May 101 National University Hospital @ 5 Lower Kent Ridge Road 30 102 23 Sungei Kadut Street 2 (Woh Hup) 30 3 May 103 10 Tagore Drive (Wah Loon Building) 30 28 Apr 104 5 Neythal Road Industrial Building 30 2 May 105 5 Sungei Kadut Avenue Commercial Building 29 106 ASPRIWestlite Papan @ 5 Jalan Papan 29 25 Apr 107 9 Tech Park Crescent (Shipblast Marine) 28 5 May 108 PCF Sparkletots @ Fengshan 27 109 8 Martin Place Construction Site 26 25 Apr 110 9A Tech Park Crescent (A&B Group) 25 3 May 111 35 Tuas View Walk 2 (Dove Industries) 25 6 May 112 24 Benoi Place Commercial Building 25 30 Apr 113 Joo Koon Lodge @ 68 Joo Koon Circle 24 1 May 114 19 Kian Teck Road 24 1 May 115 Grace Assembly of God church 23 116 15 Gul Way (Precise Two) 23 3 May 117 12 Tuas View Place Commercial Building 23 1 May 118 2 Woodlands Industrial Park E1 22 27 Apr 119 81 Tuas South Street 5 22 120 64 Woodlands Industrial Park E9 22 3 May 121 1 Tuas Avenue 10 Industrial Buiilding 21 30 Apr 122 60 Benoi Road Commercial Building 20 5 May 123 51H Tuas South Ave 1 (Tuas Cove Industrial Centre) 19 28 Apr 124 Blue Stars Dormitory @ 3 Kian Teck Lane 19 125 80 Tuas Avenue 1 Commercial Building 18 5 May 126 CitiWall @ 34 Kaki Bukit Crescent 17 127 54/56 Tuas View Square (New Millenium Engineering Pte Ltd) 17 30 Apr 128 15 Tuas View Close (TMS) 17 5 May 129 36 & 38 Kian Teck Drive 17 6 May 130 Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home @ 1 Thomson Lane 16 131 8 Sungei Kadut Loop Commercial Building 16 132 Wing Fong Court Condo @ 10 Lorong 14 Geylang 16 133 9 Gul Street 1 (Positive Engineering Pte Ltd) 16 27 Apr 134 34 Sungei Kadut Loop Industrial Building 16 2 May 135 Grandwork Building @ 7 Sungei Kadut Street 3 16 136 50A Tuas Link 4 Commercial Building 16 6 May 137 Northpoint City @ 930 Yishun Avenue 2 15 25 Apr 138 3 Tuas Drive 1 Commercial Building 15 7 May 139 Wizlearn Technologies @ Singapore Science Park 14 140 Acacia Home @ 30 Admiralty Street 14 27 Apr 141 17 Soon Lee Road Commercial Building 14 30 Apr 142 106 International Road Industrial Building 14 29 Apr 143 6 Tuas Basin Link Commercial Building 14 4 May 144 44 Toh Guan Road East (Enterprise Hub) 14 27 Apr 145 ABC Hostel @ 3 Jalan Kubor 13 146 9 Benoi Crescent Industrial Building 13 30 Apr 147 20 Benoi Lane (PEC) 13 6 May 148 Dover Court International School 11 149 234 Balestier Road Shop Houses 11 150 1 North Coast Drive (North Coast Industrial Park) 11 5 May 151 16 Fan Yoong Road Commercial Building 11 3 May 152 Hai Leck Engineering Pte Ltd @ 12 Tuas Drive 1 10 27 Apr 153 Life Church and Missions Singapore 10 154 Wilby Residences @ 15 Queen Street 10 155 55 Sungei Kadut Loop dormitory 10 156 Yong Thai Hang health products shop 9 157 Hero’s Pub @ Circular Road 9 158 Keppel Shipyard @ Pioneer Sector 1 9 159 14 Tech Park Crescent 9 6 May 160 2 Tuas Avenue 10 Industrial Building 9 30 Apr 161 133 Tuas View Square (Ensure Engineering) 9 26 Apr 162 SingPost Centre @ 10 Eunos Road 8 8 163 Black Tap Restaurant @ Marina Bay Sands 8 164 6 Battery Road construction work site 8 165 Tuas South Incineration Plant @ 98 Tuas South Avenue 3 8 1 May 166 31 Sungei Kadut Loop 8 5 May 167 5 Sixth Lok Yang Road (BRC Asia) 8 7 May 168 McDonald’s @ Forum, Lido, Geylang East Central and Parklane 7 169 100A Central Boulevard 7 5 May 170 131 Tuas View Square (Westlinke Techpark) 7 5 May 171 Maxwell MRT station construction site@ Neil Road 6 172 Singapore Cricket Club @ A Connaught Drive 6 173 Natureland East Coast @ 907 East Coast Road 6 24 Apr 174 112 Neythal Road Commercial Building 6 24 Apr 175 52 Tuas View Square (Advanced Engineering Group) 6 7 May 176 Ce La Vi @ 1 Bay Front Avenue (Marina Bay Sands) 5 177 The Orange Ballroom @ Tanjong Katong Complex 5 178 ICA Building @10 Kallang Road 5 179 Seletar Aerospace Heights construction site 5 180 Strand Hotel @ 25 Bencoolen Street 5 24 Apr 181 Institute of Mental Health @ 10 Buangkok View 5 30 Apr 182 Church of Singapore @ Bukit Timah 4 183 The Wedding Brocade @ Yishun 4 184 Grand Hyatt Hotel (business meeting) 3 185 A boulder+ Gym shop @ Aperia 3 186 Masjid Al-Muttaqin @ 5140 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 3 187 Little Gems Preschool @ 3 Ang Mo Kio Street 62 3 188 NCS Hub @ 5 Ang Mo Kio Street 62 3 3 May The island city remains the most infected country in Southeast Asia, the 2nd most infected country in the world in terms of residential land mass [LINK] and the 3rd most infected country in Asia, after China and India.      Read More →

Singapore reported 788 new Covid19 cases at noon on Wednesday (May 6), taking the country’s total to 20,198. The vast majority of the new cases are work permit holders residing in foreign worker (FW) dormitories, said the Ministry of Health in its daily update of preliminary figures. Eleven cases are Singapore citizens or permanent residents. As the number of infections rises, the skimpier is the report. How many are Singaporeans and how many are PRs? It is also obvious that the public reporting is trying to divert attention of the seriousness of the rising infections to the FWs. Are infections in the FW dormitories different from local community infections? It should be clear that the 10-member Multi-ministry Taskforce has failed Singapore in not being able to stem the spread of the Coronavirus in the city state of 5.7m people from late Jan till today. They owe all Singaporeans and residents an apology. With no medical doctor with infectious diseases specialization in the Taskforce, why didn’t the two co-chairman Health Minister Gan Kim Yong and ND Minister think of mobilizing qualified infectious diseases specialists from the public and private Medical Service sector to help them to put up appropriate measures to contain the virus spread at an early stage? The Medical Service is not short of such expertise. Probably, the Taskforce was meant to be a showcase of 4G leaders put in charge to handle a national crisis with the advantage of the SARS experience (at least according to PM Lee) and prepare them for the coming Election. Why the need to share the glory of success with others outside the closed circle? While the PAP politicians in the Taskforce are quick to accept any accolades bestowed on Singapore in the early days of the pandemic, they are slow in admitting their failure in the task. Also, don’t expect them to say “sorry” as it is not their political culture. So the deployment of medial experts came very late. It was only on April 22 that the infectious diseases medical specialists were brought into action through a panel discussion hosted by ST. For the first time, we heard their views about Covid19: Prof Dale Fisher, Senior infectious diseases expert at NUH: “I’m learning that this virus is really smart.” “It can find our blind spots, it can find vulnerable people, it can find areas where there’s high transmission, despite our efforts.” Prof Leo Yee Sin, executive director of NCID in TTSH: “While SG learnt from dealing with SARS in 2003, no two outbreaks were alike.” “This is very, very different from SARS,” she said, pointing to differences in terms of the scale of infections and the way the disease manifested in patients. “This is a very smart virus, it will find ways to remain in the human population. So it’s not a simple virus for us to deal with. There is human-to-human transmission, it can transmit when we are not aware.” Prof Teo Yik Ying, Dean of NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health was the third medical specialist on the panel. Prof Tan Chorh Chuan, MOH Chief Health Scientist who led the public health response to the SARS outbreak in 2003, was interviewed by ST on Apr 30 and he said “this Coronavirus is trickier to deal with than SARS.” Why wasn’t he allowed to speak up earlier? Are the Taskforce politicians aware that the Coronavirus is a very smart virus in Feb or Mar? Has this virus out-smarted them and hence they were slow and late in implementing the CB, even later than Malaysia? Now, Malaysia requires entry permit for their own citizens to return home from Singapore, limiting only 400 per day. Weak leaders don’t know their own inadequacies and lack of expertise in handling this virus pandemic to keep the people safe? They believe too much in themselves. Frankly, I am still puzzled how the entire Taskforce comprising PAP politicians and in particular, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo, could all miss the “ Elephant in the Room”, the over 300,000 FWs living in 43 purpose-built dormitories and over 1000 other accommodations throughout Singapore, in crowded and congested environments and in not the most hygienic conditions, a perfect breeding ground for any infectious disease? Are they weak leaders as they seem to miss even the most obvious in front of their eyes? How did other countries, with bigger populations like China, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong (and Macau), Vietnam and even New Zealand manage to contain the virus spread and now gradually re-opening their workplaces, schools and industries and loosening up social distancing measures so that their countries can soon return to normalcy? Do they have much stronger leaders like President Moon Jae-in of South Korea whose stunning election victory was an endorsement of his firm leadership in handling Covid19 and New Zealand’s PM Jacinda Arden who “declares victory against spread of virus” (ST28-4-20) and also ordered a 20 per cent pay cut for all her ministers and herself for the next six months? Covid19 pandemic exposes the social divisions within local families and their school-going children. Education Minister Ong Ye Kung must have his reasons for resisting the closure of all schools and institutes of higher learning until after a one-day trial run of Home-based Learning that he dared to order the closure on Apr 8 to May 4. “With schools closed and online learning in full swing, fault lines in the digital space have begun to emerge in the harsh light of the pandemic,” highlighted in an article “How home-based learning shows up inequality in Singapore-a look at three homes,” ST26-4-20. According to Second Minister for Education Indranee Rajah, “schools have loaned more than 20,000 computing devices and 1,600 internet enabling devices to date.” (ST5-5-20). Much has been said of the help given to the lower 10-20 per cent of Singapore’s society but we know the the real issues of social inequality are not solidly addressed over the last few decades resulting in social divides in the student population. This points back to the weak leadership of PAP politicians entrusted with the responsibilities of uplifting society and making sure that “no one is left behind”, a nice sounding narrative that is hollow to the less endowed families and their children. Stronger leaders would have fixed this social problem long ago. The PAP politicians in the Taskforce must be thinking long and hard on how and when to dismantle the CB and resume all the economic activities as many other countries which imposed strict lockdown measures have started to open-up and return to normal gradually. I really hope these PAP politicians won’t follow suit so quickly because Singapore was one of the last countries to go into any form of restrictions and I doubt they can really manage the pandemic if there is a sudden flare-up from the dormitories to the local community. Don’t forget, “the spaces they now live in are within our communities: HDB blocks in Jurong and Bukit Merah, Northshore Primary School in Punggol, as well as the former Anderson Junior College hotel in Ang Mo Kio.” (ST30-4-20). With the passing of the Parliamentary Elections (Covid19 Special Arrangements) bill into law, we should expect the PAP politicians to be going into Election mode. If “political opportunism” matters more than public health and an Election will indeed be called soon, Covid19 could well be their “Waterloo.” This is the opinion of a Pioneer Citizen.   Kok Ming Cheang      Read More →

The importance of independent journalism. In this case, by Kirsten Han and Kokila Annamalai. Please read and share. Personally, I find it extremely odd that 5 rather young foreign workers, who all had covid-19 infections, would suddenly die and then have their deaths classified as non-covid-19-related deaths. The 5 all died within a space of one month. The questions asked in this report are ones everyone should be asking of the authorities. At the moment, there is scarce information about the 5 men. Apparently, reporters have not asked the authorities for more information, and the authorities are not offering much. The families of the five foreign workers - foreign workers whom we now are praising and thanking and everything else - deserve to know the facts of the deaths of their loved ones. And we too, the society at large, need to know the medical facts behind the deaths, so that we can take precautions. As a heart patient myself, one who had a quadruple bypass, I am personally interested in knowing how 2 of the workers, so young, who had covid-19, could suddenly die of heart attacks. I think many heart patients, especially younger ones, would also be interested to know.     Andrew Loh      Read More →