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SINGAPORE: No new cases of COVID-19 were linked to the cluster in the dormitory of foreign workers S11 @ Punggol for the first time since April 1, according to the update of the daily figures of the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Sunday (10 of may).
The group, the largest in Singapore, with 2,545 cases as of Sunday, was one of the first to be identified in the dorms.
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Since then, more than 20,000 cases have been linked to dormitories across the country, forming almost 90 percent of COVID-19 cases in Singapore.
READ: COVID-19: Why were 3 positive cases who died of heart problems not added to the official death toll in Singapore?
HOW THE S11 CLUSTER GROWS WITH THE LARGEST IN SINGAPORE
The first two linked patients, cases 826 and 829, tested positive for the coronavirus on March 28.
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Case 826, the first in the group, was a 48-year-old Bangladeshi long-term national pass holder who was admitted to Sengkang General Hospital. Case 829, a 34-year-old Indian citizen and holder of a work pass, tested positive for coronavirus the same day and was admitted to the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.
On March 30, two more cases were linked and the MS identified S11 @ Punggol as a new group.
No new cases were linked to S11 the following day, but on April 1, six new cases were added, bringing the total in the bedroom to 10.
Workers queue to buy food in S11 @ Punggol dormitory on April 6, 2020. (Photo: Reuters / Edgar Su)
On April 5, the third day of double-digit increase in the cluster, S11 received an isolation zone, along with the Westlite Toh Guan bedroom. They were the first two bedrooms to be published.
That meant that almost 20,000 workers had to stay in their rooms for 14 days.
READ: COVID-19: Nearly 20,000 foreign workers quarantined in Dorm S11, Westlite Toh Guan
Human Resources Minister Josephine Teo said then: “The key objective of all these measures is really to guarantee the health and well-being of all.
“Not only the citizens of Singapore, but also the foreign workers who are here, helping our economy and their employers. We want to give foreign workers the assurance that these measures are taken according to their interests and well-being.”
The number of cases in S11 crossed the 100 mark on April 8, a day before seeing its first triple-digit increase.
On April 9, 166 more cases were linked to the group, which now had 283 confirmed cases.
On April 9, the multi-ministry working group introduced a “dedicated strategy” that involved testing and moving healthy workers elsewhere.
A link was also established between a growing group at the Mustafa Center shopping center and various bedrooms, including the S11.
READ: Singapore reports record 287 new COVID-19 cases with more than half linked to bedroom group
Since then more groups have been discovered in other bedrooms.
View of the S11 @ Punggol bedroom in Singapore on April 17, 2020. (Photo: AFP / Roslan Rahman)
NUMBER OF CASES IN S11 GROWS
Cases in S11 continued to increase steadily in the second week of April.
On April 13, another 222 cases were linked to the bedroom, taking the total beyond the mark from 500 to 586 cases.
A day later, the Ministry of Health announced that medical teams would be deployed in all the dormitories, as authorities increased testing among migrant workers.
READ: COVID-19: All dormitories for foreign workers will have medical teams of doctors and nurses from hospitals, polyclinics.
In S11, the number of cases continued to grow rapidly, with triple-digit increases for almost every day during the following week.
On April 17, the count in S11 crossed the 1,000 mark.
A day later, an additional 252 cases were added to the cluster, the highest peak so far.
On April 20, the group saw another daily high, with 469 new cases, bringing its total to 1,977 cases.
That would be to the maximum in the cases.
SAF medical personnel attending to a foreign worker in the S11 @ Punggol dormitory on Thursday, April 9, 2020. (Photo: MINDEF)
A man with a protective mask fumigates outside the S11 Punggol bedroom amid a COVID-19 outbreak on April 7, (Photo: brochure from the Singapore Ministry of Human Resources via Reuters)
Thereafter, the number of cases fell sharply. It crossed the 2,000 mark on April 21, with 166 cases, and was followed by 71 new cases on April 22.
After two days of double-digit increases, six new cases were linked on April 25, the first single-digit increase in nearly three weeks.
The increase in the S11 cluster was stable, with small spikes over the next week, except for a jump of 134 cases on April 29.
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said on April 27 that the testing rate for migrant workers had not decreased.
“Our testing capacity for migrant workers is approximately 3,000 per day. We have not reduced it. Instead, we have been increasing the testing capacity of our migrant workers, ”he added.
READ: COVID-19: ‘Not True’ Singapore has reduced testing among migrant workers, says Gan Kim Yong
S11 was still by far the largest COVID-19 cluster in Singapore.
Ms Teo told Parliament on May 4 that the situation inside the larger bedrooms was mostly stable for now.
Six days later, on May 10, the Ministry of Health reported that no new cases were associated with S11, the first time since early April.
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