Singapore reports 1,426 new Covid-19 infections; three new clusters

Singapore

THREE new coronavirus clusters have been announced by the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Monday, which saw 1,426 new cases, concentrated mostly among foreign workers living in dormitories.

One of the clusters is linked to Jurong Apartments, the second to Woodlands Lodge II and the third to 8 Sungei Kadut Loop.

The ministry also said 1,369 foreign workers in dormitories accounted for the latest infections. Of the new cases, 18 are Singaporeans and permanent residents.

The other new patients are 32 work permit holders who did not stay in dormitories. There are no imported cases.

Singapore's largest active cluster remains S11 Dormitory@ Punggol, which has confirmed more than 1,500 cases.

With Monday's figures, the total number of Covid-19 cases in Singapore stands at 8,014.

MOH earlier preliminarily confirmed 1,426 new cases of Covid-19 infection in Singapore as of Monday noon, the single highest daily spike in numbers since the outbreak began in January.

To date, more than 1 per cent of the 323,000 foreign workers living in dormitories have tested positive for the virus.

Of the 43 large purpose-built dormitories, 26 have reported active clusters, as well as several smaller factory converted dormitories.

The number of new cases in the community has fallen to 31 per day in the past week, down from an average of 37 cases a day in the week before. But there are slightly more unlinked cases in the community at an average of 22 per day in the past week, up from 18 cases per day in the week before.

Singapore now has the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in South-east Asia, overtaking Indonesia and the Philippines.

Since January, 768 patients have fully recovered and been discharged. Eleven have died.

At least 164,918 people globally have died from the virus and 2,388,268 have been infected. THE STRAITS TIMES, REUTERS