For a second day running, Singapore recorded another daily high of new coronavirus cases, 728, with the total number of people infected crossing the 4,000 mark.

Like in the past two weeks, foreign workers living in dormitories continue to drive this increase, accounting for 654 of new patients. This means the total number of patients who have tested positive for the virus linked to dormitories now stands at 2,689, or three in five of all cases.

Of the remaining new cases, 48 are other local community cases while 26 are work permit holders living outside dormitories.

There were five new clusters announced linked to dormitories, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its daily update on Thursday (April 16).

They include two large purpose-built dormitories, Westlite Mandai, which is linked to 31 patients, and The Leo dormitory in Kaki Bukit, which has 21.

The remaining three new clusters are linked to factory converted dormitories: SJ Dormitory in Woodlands; 17 Sungei Kadut Street 4; and Grandwork Building in Sungei Kadut.

This means that 19 of the 43 purpose-built dormitories here, together with several factories converted into dormitories, have reported active clusters in recent weeks.

S11 Dormitory @ Punggol, Singapore’s largest cluster, added 181 cases as of Thursday noon, and now has 979 cases – about a fifth of the country’s total.

Another dormitory, Mandai Lodge I, had another 154 new cases. Some 161 workers who live there have now tested positive for the coronavirus.

It said 19 per cent of the new cases are currently unlinked and contact tracing for these cases is being done.

No imported cases were reported for the seventh successive day.

Singapore now has 4,427 Covid-19 cases.

article resource: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singapore-coronavirus-cases-cross-4000-with-728-cases-in-new-daily-record