Number of Filipinos with COVID-19 in Singapore rises to 11

MANILA, Philippines – The number of Filipinos in Singapore with COVID-19 has risen to 11, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Wednesday.

According to DFA, the Philippine Embassy in Singapore obtained the information from the Singaporean Ministry of Health.

“Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), through the Philippine Embassy in Singapore, confirms that there are now a total of 11 Filipino nationals who tested positive with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Singapore,” DFA said.

“Through information from the Singaporean Ministry of Health (MOH), the Embassy confirms that the 11th Filipino national who has tested positive for COVID-19 on 17 March 2020 is currently confined in a hospital and is in isolation,” the department added.

Last Sunday, DFA said that there were nine Filipinos with COVID-19 in the city-state.

The good news is that another Filipino was discharged from a Singaporean hospital last Saturday, which means that there are only nine active patients with COVID-19, as of this writing.

“Another Filipino has recovered and was discharged from hospital on 14 March 2020. This brings the total number of active cases of COVID-19-positive Filipinos in Singapore, down to nine. The majority of the newly diagnosed active cases are considered as imported cases by the Singapore MOH,” the DFA said.

“The Embassy is in close coordination with the Ministry of Health (MOH) of Singapore and stands ready to extend assistance to the COVID-19-positive Filipino nationals as needed,” it added.

Last Sunday, Manila was placed under an 8-p.m.-to-5-a.m. curfew, a day before President Rodrigo Duterte restricted movement outside for all people except those working in the frontline services, like healthcare workers and service crews.

READ: Manila City imposes 8 pm to 5 am curfew

COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus that first emerged in Wuhan City in Hubei province in China in late 2019.

The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses named the novel coronavirus as SARS-CoV-2.

Coronavirus is a family of viruses with surfaces having a crown-like appearance. The viruses are named for the spikes on their surfaces.

In the Philippines, there are 202 confirmed cases in, 17 of whom have died.  Seven have recovered, while there are six patients who were allowed to go on a home quarantine mode.

As to Filipinos overseas, at least 120 have contracted COVID-19, the bulk of whom contracted the disease aboard the MVDiamond Princess, a cruise ship previously docked in Yokohama, Japan.

Worldwide, over 193,000 COVID-19 cases have been recorded, 7,865 of whom have died and 81,743 have recovered.

/atm