A foreign worker waits to get medical check near the Toh Guan Dormitory in Singapore on April 8, 2020. Singapore confirmed 142 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, a new daily record, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its daily update. Of these, 140 are local cases and two are imported, bringing the total number of cases in the state to 1,623 since the first case was reported on Jan. 23. (Photo by Then Chih Wey/Xinhua)
SINGAPORE, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Singapore confirmed 142 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, a new daily record, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its daily update.
Of these, 140 are local cases and two are imported, bringing the total number of cases in the state to 1,623 since the first case was reported on Jan. 23.
Among the local cases, 55 are linked to existing clusters, of which 40 are linked to clusters at foreign worker dormitories. There are 13 cases that have been linked to other cases. Contact tracing is being done for the remaining 72 cases.
MOH also said that a man who later tested positive died while awaiting test results.
A 32-year-old Indian national who had been swabbed on April 7 and advised to stay home pending test results died on April 8 at his residence. He was confirmed to have COVID-19 after his death. His chest X-ray indicated he did not have pneumonia and investigations are ongoing to establish the cause of death.
MOH also said that a total of 406 cases have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities.
Of the 669 confirmed cases still in hospital, most are stable or improving, with 29 in critical condition in the intensive care unit. Six have died from complications due to COVID-19 infection.
MOH also announced on Wednesday that starting from 11:59 p.m. on April 9, all travelers returning to Singapore from overseas will have to serve their 14-day stay-home notice at dedicated facilities instead of in their homes. It applies to all Singaporeans, permanent residents and long-term pass holders regardless of the country they are coming from.
