Fifth COVID-19 death in Singapore, an 86-year-old nursing home resident

SINGAPORE: A fifth person died from COVID-19 in Singapore early on Friday (Apr 3) morning, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a news release.

The patient was an 86-year-old Singaporean woman with no recent travel history to affected places, said the ministry. 

READ: COVID-19: PM Lee to address nation at 4pm 

She died from complications due to the infection at 1.55am on Friday.

The patient’s profile matches that of case 918, the first person linked to a cluster at Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home at 1 Thomson Lane. Twelve cases have since been linked to this cluster, including a 102-year-old resident.

The woman was admitted to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) on Mar 31, and diagnosed with COVID-19 on the same day, said MOH.

NCID has reached out to her family and is extending assistance to them, the ministry said.

READ: 102-year-old woman among those infected with COVID-19 at Lee Ah Mooi nursing home

Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home said in a post of Facebook that it was “saddened to learn of the passing of our 86-year-old resident”.

“We and NCID are extending our assistance to her family. We seek your understanding during this challenging period for our home,” it said.

MOH and the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) announced on Wednesday that no visitors will be allowed at nursing homes in Singapore for the whole of this month after the cases at the Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home surfaced.

As of Thursday, Singapore has reported 1,049 infections, with new clusters emerging at Mustafa Centre, a construction site at Maxwell MRT station and Keppel Shipyard. ​​​​​​​

THREE COVID-19 DEATHS IN A WEEK

This is the third death reported in Singapore in a week.

On Thursday, a 68-year-old Indonesian national died of COVID-19, the fourth fatality in the country. He had a history of diabetes and hypertension.

On Sunday, a 70-year-old Singaporean man became the third person to die from complications due to the disease in Singapore. He had a history of hypertension and hyperlipidaemia.

The country saw its first two deaths related to the novel coronavirus on Mar 21, a 75-year-old Singaporean woman and a 64-year-old Indonesian man. The woman had a history of chronic heart disease and hypertension and the man had a history of heart disease.

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