1,426 new cases in Singapore, mostly foreign workers affected

Residents queue for food at Tuas South foreign workers dormitory that has been placed under COVID-19 restriction. Pic/AFP

Health officials in Singapore said on Monday that they reported a record 1,426 new Coronavirus cases, out of which 1,410 are foreign workers, including Indians residing in dormitories, health officials said. With the fresh cases, the total number of Coronavirus cases in the city-state stands at 8,014, the Ministry of Health said.

"We are still working through the details of the cases," said the ministry in a statement. A total of 18 foreign worker dormitories have been gazetted as isolation areas, as the number of COVID-19 cases continue to rise. As of Sunday, the cluster at S11 Dormitory at Punggol remained the biggest, with 1,508 confirmed cases.

The next biggest cluster was at Sungei Tengah Lodge, with 521 confirmed cases. Though the dormitories are being disinfected and bedding accommodation re-arranged, most of these were overcrowded, leading to a large number of cases as foreign workers are now undergoing screening and testing. All foreign workers in the construction sector have been placed on mandatory stay-home notices until May 4 as a precautionary measure against the spread of COVID-19.

The Ministry of Manpower and the Building and Construction Authority noted that while the recent rise in the number of infected foreign workers has mostly been concentrated in dormitories, there have been cases at construction sites.

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1,410
No. of foreign workers

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