Coronavirus: Singapore extends partial lockdown until June 1

In an official announcement, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said April 21 that the partial lockdown measure in Singapore will be extended until June 1 to plank the curve. The “circuit breaker” measures involve closure of all non-essential and recreational public premises and workplaces. The protocol was due to be suspended on May 4 but has now been revised under the new guidelines, as per media reports.  

The decision comes as the state has witnessed a drastic surge in the new cases of the COVID-19 in recent weeks as the outbreak was recorded at migrant worker dormitories. The government ordered the workers to be sent under quarantine to prevent further transmission amongst the communities, confirmed media reports. In a televised speech, Lee said that the circuit breaker measures will be extended to up to four weeks to curb the spread of the virus. The extension in the lockdown period would decelerate the infection rate on the graph and would ensure that the patients that tested positive in the dormitories did not result in a cluster outbreak, he further added. Over 9,125 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been detected in Singapore thus far, the death toll is 11. 

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Cases going up

Earlier, the government had done extensive testing of overseas workers lodged in dormitories, considered as hotspots, confirmed media reports. Out of the vast majority that tested positive, at least 1,369 were work permit holders. "The main increase today continues to be for work permit holders residing in dormitories, where we are picking up many more cases because of extensive testing," the ministry said. "These are not new infections as the workers are staying in their rooms and many have not reported sick. But when the teams go in to test them, many turn out to be positive," it added, according to reports. The COVID-19 in Singapore cases have reportedly gone up from an average of 13 cases per day, the week before, to an average of 24 per day the past week.

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