Singapore sees drop in new COVID-19 cases

ANKARA

Asia’s new hotspot of coronavirus infection, Singapore, reported a considerable drop in new cases Tuesday.

However, most of the new infections were once again found in foreign workers in the island nation, city-state’s health ministry said in a statement.

The statement said that 528 additional cases of the virus were found until mid-day on Tuesday. “The vast majority of whom [new cases] are Work Permit holders residing in foreign worker dormitories,” the statement said.

The fresh cases are 271 lower than recorded a day earlier.

Eight cases are Singaporeans or what is called as “permanent residents”.

With new infections detected, Singapore’s toll has reached to 14,951. A total of 14 people have died due to COVID-19.

According to daily Straits Times, 12,183 migrant workers living in dormitories were tested positive, raising questions about living standards in Singapore’s dormitories.

Around 323,000 migrant workers are living in the dormitories in the country.

Until Monday, 1,095 patients had fully recovered from the infection and were discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities.

In total, 121,774 tests were conducted by the authorities to determine coronavirus cases.

Over 1.6 million foreigners are residing in Singapore, of whom nearly 41% hold work permits. The island state has a population of 5.85 million.

Singapore is already observing a lockdown with educational institutions, and most of the offices closed to stem the spread of COVID-19.

The authorities have linked the spike in the cases to work permit holders residing in dormitories. Health officials have found clusters of coronavirus cases in these dormitories pushing the number of cases every day.

The health ministry also said the number of new cases in the community had decreased from an average of 29 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 20 per day in the past week.