Civil servant arrested under Official Secrets Act over leak of COVID-19 case numbers - CNA

SINGAPORE: A civil servant has been arrested for allegedly leaking COVID-19 case figures before they were officially released, according to a police news release on Thursday (Apr 23).

The 35-year-old Singaporean woman was arrested for wrongful communication of information under the Official Secrets Act and unauthorised access to computer materials under the Computer Misuse Act.

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READ:  COVID-19 infections in Singapore top 11,000, with 1,037 new cases

She is also accused of accessing a Government COVID-19 database without authorisation to retrieve confidential records of a person who had tested positive for COVID-19, and giving the information to a friend, said the police.

On Apr 16 at about 7.40pm, the police received a report from a member of the public that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases for that day had been published on an Instagram story post, even though the Ministry of Health (MOH) had not officially released the figures yet.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the woman, who is an authorised recipient of classified information on COVID-19, had shared the figures with members of a private WeChat group, said the police.

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"Members in the WeChat group, who were not authorised to receive the classified information, further disseminated the information before MOH officially released the information," they said.

Further investigations found that the woman had previously shared daily COVID-19 case figures with the group before the figures were officially released on several other occasions.

If convicted of wrongful communication of information under the Official Secrets Act, the woman could be fined up to S$2,000 and jailed for up to two years.

Unauthorised recipients should not further circulate the confidential information received, as they may be similarly liable under the Official Secrets Act, warned the police.

If the woman is convicted of unauthorised access to computer materials under the Computer Misuse Act, she could be fined up to S$5,000 and jailed for up to two years.

The incident comes after another public servant and her husband were arrested earlier this month for allegedly circulating a draft of a joint media statement announcing that schools were moving into full home-based learning.

As of Thursday, Singapore has confirmed 11,178 cases of COVID-19. Twelve people have died from complications related to the disease in the country.

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments

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2020-04-23 15:32:32Z
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Coronavirus: Malaysia extends movement curbs by two weeks to May 12 - The Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Thursday (April 23) that he is extending the country's stay-at-home order by another two weeks, to May 12.

This is the third extension of the movement control order (MCO), which had been scheduled to end on Tuesday (April 28).

Malaysia first imposed the MCO on March 18 to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The Prime Minister said that although new Covid-19 cases is lower today than at the start of the movement curbs, the government has not brought the pandemic under control.

The MCO enters its 37th day on Thursday, which is the eve of the start of the Muslim fasting month, or Ramadan.

He said in an announcement broadcast live on television and on social media platforms that the curbs could be extended further, or the country re-opened in phases, depending on the Covid-19 data from the country's Health Ministry.

The first two-week phase of the MCO was between March 18 and 31. The second phase was between April 1 to 14, also for two weeks.

During the partial lockdown, Malaysians could only leave their homes to buy groceries, medicine or food, with the police and army setting up roadblocks in many areas across the country.

Only essential workers, ranging from healthcare employees to the police as well as the army along with supermarket and restaurant staff, are permitted to leave their homes daily.

Restaurants can do only takeaways and most businesses, except essential services, were shut.

Malaysia on Thursday reported 71 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the cumulative total to 5,603.

The double-digit figure continues a week of such daily numbers of new cases - an improvement from the triple-digit numbers recorded in the initial days of the MCO.

There were two more deaths, bringing the number of fatalities to 95.

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2020-04-23 14:11:08Z
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Coronavirus: Malaysia extends movement curbs by two weeks to May 12 - The Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Thursday (April 23) that he is extending the country's stay-at-home order by another two weeks, to May 12.

This is the third extension of the movement control order (MCO), which had been scheduled to end on Tuesday (April 28).

Malaysia first imposed the MCO on March 18 to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The Prime Minister said that although new Covid-19 cases is lower today than at the start of the movement curbs, the government has not brought the pandemic under control.

The MCO enters its 37th day on Thursday, which is the eve of the start of the Muslim fasting month, or Ramadan.

He said in an announcement broadcast live on television and on social media platforms that the curbs could be extended further, or the country re-opened in phases, depending on the Covid-19 data from the country's Health Ministry.

The first two-week phase of the MCO was between March 18 and 31. The second phase was between April 1 to 14, also for two weeks.

During the partial lockdown, Malaysians could only leave their homes to buy groceries, medicine or food, with the police and army setting up roadblocks in many areas across the country.

Only essential workers, ranging from healthcare employees to the police as well as the army along with supermarket and restaurant staff, are permitted to leave their homes daily.

Restaurants can do only takeaways and most businesses, except essential services, were shut.

Malaysia on Thursday reported 71 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the cumulative total to 5,603.

The double-digit figure continues a week of such daily numbers of new cases - an improvement from the triple-digit numbers recorded in the initial days of the MCO.

There were two more deaths, bringing the number of fatalities to 95.

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2020-04-23 14:04:42Z
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Coronavirus: PM Muhyiddin extends Malaysia's movement curbs by two weeks to May 12 - The Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Thursday (April 23) that he is extending the country's stay-at-home order by another two weeks, to May 12.

The third phase of the movement control order (MCO) was to end on Tuesday (April 28).

Malaysia first imposed the MCO on March 18.

He said although new Covid-19 cases is lower today that at the start of the movement curbs, the government still has not brought the pandemic under control.

The MCO is on Thursday into its 37th day, with the Muslim fasting month starting on Friday (April 24).

He said in an announcement broadcast live on television and on social media platforms that the curbs could be extended further, or the country re-opened in phases, depending on data on Covid-19 that will be supplied by the Health Ministry.

The first phase of the MCO, for two weeks, was between March 18 and 31. The second phase was between April 1 to 14, also for two weeks.

During the partial lockdown, Malaysians could only leave their homes to buy groceries, medicine or food, with police and the army setting up roadblocks in many areas across the countryOnly essential workers from healthcare workers to police, the army along with supermarket and restaurant staff are allowed to leave their homes daily. to restrict movements.

Restaurants can only do takeaways and most businesses except essential services were shut.

Malaysia on Thursday reported 71 new cases of Covid-19 to bring the cumulative total to 5,603.

The double digit figure reported capped a week of double digit new cases, an improvement over triple digits recorded in the early days of the MCO.

There were two more deaths to bring the fatality rate to 95.

Malaysia on Thursday also discharged 90 more patients during the same 24-hour span, meaning there are only 1,966 active cases being treated at the country's health facilities at present. So far, 3,542 patients have recovered from Covid-19 in Malaysia since the outbreak began.

Malaysia's Covid-19 recovery rate is now at 63.2 per cent out of the total number of positive cases.

There are currently 42 patients being treated at intensive care units - one fewer than the day before. Out of the total, 21 are on ventilator support.

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2020-04-23 12:49:26Z
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COVID-19 infections in Singapore top 11000, with 1037 new cases - CNA

SINGAPORE: Singapore confirmed 1,037 new cases of COVID-19 as of noon on Thursday (Apr 23), taking the national total to 11,178. 

This is the fourth day in a row that Singapore has reported a daily increase of more than 1,000 cases.  

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The vast majority of the new cases are work permit holders residing in foreign worker dormitories, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its preliminary release of figures.

Twenty-one of the new cases are Singaporeans or permanent residents. 

"We are still working through the details of the cases, and further updates will be shared via the MOH press release that will be issued tonight," the ministry added. 

Twelve people in Singapore have died due to COVID-19. The latest fatality was announced on Wednesday night - an 84-year-old Singaporean woman identified as Case 1071.

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MORE DORMITORIES GAZETTED AS ISOLATION AREAS

Singapore has seen an increase in the number of cases among work permit holders residing in foreign worker dormitories in the last two weeks. 

So far, a total of 21 foreign worker dormitories have been gazetted as isolation areas.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday announced that Singapore will extend its COVID-19 "circuit breaker" period by four weeks until Jun 1. 

Addressing the spike in COVID-19 cases in dormitories, Mr Lee said the Government will increase medical resources there and deploy more medical personnel to ensure workers with flu symptoms get "appropriate and timely" medical treatment.

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments

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2020-04-23 07:29:44Z
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1,037 new coronavirus cases, bringing Singapore's total to 11,178, Singapore News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

SINGAPORE - The Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed 1,037 new Covid-19 cases as of noon on Thursday (April 23) as the daily tally continues to rise.

Migrant workers living in dormitories continue to make up the bulk of the increase, with Singaporeans and permanent residents making up just 21 of the new cases.

This brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Singapore to 11,178.

More details of the cases as well as further updates will be released later on Thursday, the MOH said in its daily preliminary update.

The Covid-19 infections here crossed the 10,000 mark on Wednesday.

As of Wednesday, about 2.51 per cent of the 323,000 migrant workers living in dormitories have tested positive, much higher than the prevalence rate of 0.061 per cent among the 664,000 workers not living in dormitories and 0.023 per cent in the community.

Most of the migrant workers who are infected have mild symptoms and none of them is in intensive care. There are now a total of 21 dormitories declared as isolation areas where workers at these lodgings must be quarantined in their rooms for 14 days.

As for community cases, the ministry said that the daily average of new cases has fallen from 36 cases two weeks ago to 25 in the past week. Unlinked cases in the community have also decreased to an average of 17 per day in the past week from 21 two weeks ago.

Wednesday's update showed that 57 more coronavirus patients were discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities - the highest daily number to date. Some 4,234 patients remain in hospital, with 25 in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

A 12th person, an 84-year-old Singaporean woman, died from the virus on Tuesday night.

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2020-04-23 07:22:16Z
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Singapore's COVID-19 cases top 9000 after 1111 new cases reported - CNA

SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 1,111 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday (Apr 21), taking the national total to 9,125.  

The vast majority of the new cases are work permit holders residing in foreign worker dormitories, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its release of preliminary figures. 

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Twenty cases are Singaporeans or permanent residents, and there are no imported cases.

A total of 1,050 new cases are foreign workers living in dormitories, while 33 are work permit holders residing outside dormitories, MOH said in its latest update.

"The main increase today continues to be for work permit holders residing in dormitories, where we are picking up many more cases because of extensive testing," it said, adding that most of the workers have a mild illness and none of them requires intensive care.

READ: COVID-19 circuit breaker extended until Jun 1 as Singapore aims to bring down community cases ‘decisively’ - PM Lee

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READ: COVID-19 - Hairdressers, confectioneries, standalone beverage outlets to close as essential services list trimmed

The number of new cases in the community has decreased from an average of 39 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 28 per day in the past week.

For unlinked cases in the community, the number has decreased slightly from an average of 21 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 20 per day in the past week. 

"We will continue to closely monitor these numbers, as well as the cases detected through our surveillance programme," said MOH.

More cases are being detected among work permit holders residing outside dormitories; the number of such cases has increased from an average of 14 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 26 per day in the past week.

Of all the new cases, 66 per cent are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.

INTERACTIVE: All the COVID-19 clusters at dorms and construction sites

READ: Two weeks and a 70-fold increase: A look into the COVID-19 outbreak in Singapore's foreign worker dormitories

THREE NEW CLUSTERS

Three new infection clusters have been identified by the ministry: The Jovell construction site (27 Flora Drive), Pesko Engineering (2 Joo Koon Road) and 5 Sungei Kadut Avenue.

Between Apr 14 and Apr 20, the ministry has uncovered links for 672 previously unlinked cases.

Thirteen previously confirmed cases have now been linked to a new cluster at The Jovell construction site.

The Pesko Engineering cluster is made up of 11 previously confirmed cases as well as 40 of the new cases announced on Tuesday.

Two of the newly confirmed cases are linked to 13 previous cases, forming a new cluster at 5 Sungei Kadut Avenue.

The health ministry also uncovered links between previously confirmed cases and existing clusters.​​​​​​​

Topping the list is S11 Dormitory @ Punggol, which has 166 additional cases linked to it, taking its total to 2,143.

Sungei Tengah Lodge added 89 more cases to its cluster, which now has a total of 629 confirmed cases.

Fifty-nine more cases are linked to the cluster at Tuas View Dormitory, bringing its total to 519 confirmed cases.

MOH added that 39 more COVID-19 patients have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 839 have fully recovered from the infection.

Of the 3,593 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving, while 27 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

A total of 4,682 cases who are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19 are isolated and cared for at community facilities. 

The number of deaths due to COVID-19 remains at 11.

A summary of the cases is provided on the ministry's website.

A total of 19 foreign worker dormitories have been gazetted as isolation areas, following a recent spike in the number of COVID-19 cases among foreign workers in Singapore.

MOH on Monday said that it was "picking up many more cases" because of extensive testing. 

"These are not new infections as the workers are staying in their rooms and many have not reported sick. But when the teams go in to test them, many turn out to be positive."

Most of them have a mild illness and are being monitored in community isolation facilities or general wards. None are in the intensive care unit, MOH added. 

CIRCUIT BREAKER PERIOD EXTENDED

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced on Tuesday that Singapore will extend its circuit breaker period by four weeks to Jun 1, while implementing tighter measures to stem the spread of COVID-1.

More workplaces will be closed, the list of what was considered essential services has been tightened, and there will be additional entry restrictions at four popular markets based on the last digit of patrons' identification card numbers.

"These tighter measures will be in place minimally for a two-week period from Apr 21, 2020 until May 4, 2020 (inclusive)," said MOH in a media release. 

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments

Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram

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2020-04-23 03:00:51Z
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