66 COVID-19 cases among healthcare workers and support staff: Gan Kim Yong

SINGAPORE: As of Apr 26, there were 66 cases of confirmed COVID-19 infection among healthcare workers and support staff, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said in Parliament on Monday (May 4).

Of them, 46 cases were from healthcare workers who had direct contact with patients, he said.

READ: COVID-19: Circuit breaker might be lifted when community cases fall to zero or single digits over sustained period

READ: Singapore developing nationwide COVID-19 testing strategy to better detect unlinked cases in community: Lawrence Wong

“Based on the investigations thus far, there are no established epidemiological links showing that these healthcare workers were infected in the line of duty,” Mr Gan said. However, there is "one case in a private healthcare institution where we are unable to rule out a possible link between the doctor and a COVID-19 patient”, he said.

Among the linked cases, many were imported cases, cases due to household transmission, or linked to church clusters, Mr Gan noted.

The minister was responding to chairman of Government Parliamentary Committee for Health Dr Chia Shi-Lu who asked how many healthcare workers have been infected by the COVID-19 virus and how many have been infected in their line of duty.

READ: 573 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore, taking total to 18,778

READ: COVID-19: Guarding against burnout, compassion fatigue and trauma in frontline healthcare workers

Healthcare workers have taken an extra level of care at their workplaces to protect themselves and their families, Mr Gan assured.

He noted that a recent National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) study did not detect any past infection among a sample of healthcare workers.

READ: Stretched but coping: How Singapore's healthcare system has cranked up efforts to deal with COVID-19

“Nevertheless, in the event that our healthcare workers fall sick, we will ensure that they are well taken care of. Under such unfortunate circumstances, our institutions stay in touch with infected healthcare workers to check-in on their general well-being,” he said. 

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