690 new coronavirus cases take Singapore tally past 15,000 mark

Migrant workers living in dormitories continue to form most of the cases.ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG via The Straits Times/Asia News Network

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) has announced 690 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore on Wednesday (April 29), taking the total count to 15,641.

Six Singaporeans and permanent residents are among the new patients.

Migrant workers living in dormitories continue to form the most of the remaining cases.

MOH said more details will be released later on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the ministry reported 528 new cases, the lowest daily increase in new cases in Singapore in nearly two weeks since April 15, which had 447 new cases.

Of the new cases on Tuesday, 511 are foreign workers living in dormitories.

A total of 12,694 of the 323,000 migrant workers living in dormitories – 3.9 per cent – have tested positive for the coronavirus.

MOH had said on Tuesday that it picked up many more cases in dormitories because of extensive testing. Most of these cases have a mild illness and are being monitored in community isolation facilities or the general wards of hospitals.

The ministry added that the number of new cases in the community has decreased to an average of 17 per day in the past week from an average of 28 cases per day two weeks ago.

The number of unlinked cases in the community has also fallen to an average of 10 per day in the past week from an average of 18 cases per day two weeks ago.

As of Tuesday, 1,128 patients in Singapore have fully recovered and been discharged.

Fourteen have died from Covid-19 complications in Singapore. Four who tested positive have died from other causes.

Globally, the outbreak, which began in December last year, has infected more than 3.13 million people. Some 217,000 have died.

The United States is the worst affected country in the world with more than 1 million cases and 58,000 deaths from Covid-19 as of Wednesday.