1,111 new coronavirus cases take Singapore tally past 9,000 mark

The majority of the Covid-19 cases here are work permit holders residing in foreign worker dormitories.PHOTO: ST FILE

SINGAPORE – The Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed 1,111 new Covid-19 cases as of noon on Tuesday (April 21), as cases crossed the 9,000 mark.

Among the new cases, 20 are Singaporeans and permanent residents, while foreign workers living in dormitories continue to drive the increase.

The ministry said it is still working out the details of the cases and will provide further updates on Tuesday night.

This brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Singapore to 9,125.

On Monday, the ministry announced the sharpest single-day spike in cases yet, reporting 1,426 cases, including 1,369 foreign workers living in dormitories.

The continued emergence of clusters linked to dormitories, together with the authorities’ aggressive testing of the workers, have sent the total number of cases in Singapore surging since circuit breaker measures were introduced.

On April 6 – the day before the circuit breaker kicked in – 1,375 cases were announced. This rose to 2,918 cases on Monday last week and crossed 8,000 this Monday.

But the MOH also noted that the number of new cases in the community has decreased to an average of 29 per day in the past week, from an average of 39 cases per day in the week before.

The number of unlinked cases in the community has remained relatively constant, with an average of 20 cases a day for the past two weeks.

Tuesday marks the halfway mark – the 15th day – of Singapore’s circuit breaker measures, which have seen most non-essential workplaces shut and people interacting only with their immediate family members.

Infectious diseases experts The Straits Times spoke to said the next few days are critical to whether measures can be eased by their slated end date of May 4, with one doctor describing them as “like a mid-year exam”.

They said community infection numbers need to be pushed down further, and that the number of cases picked up by the MOH’s sample testing at polyclinics and general practitioners – an indication of undetected community cases – should drop to as close to zero as possible.