Merlion Park in Singapore. (Photo: AFP/VNA)Singapore (VNA) – Singapore’s Health Ministry on April 17 confirmed additional 728 cases of COVID-19, the country’s new daily record, lifting the total to 4,427.
No new deaths were reported on the same day, leaving the toll at 10.
The ministry said of the new cases, 654 were linked to migrant workers’ dormitories. The latest count of the new infections was much higher than the previous biggest daily jump of 447 recorded a day earlier.
Local authorities have managed to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 among Singapore’s citizens by rigorous contact tracing and surveillance, earning praise from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Singaporean authorities said they would impose stronger punishments on those who repeatedly break the 28-day circuit-breaker rules.
From April 9, enforcement officers would stern written warnings to people found gathering in public in Singapore. Those found to breach the rules a second time are fined 300 SGP, and taken to court if caught a third time.
“The number of new COVID-19 cases is increasing sharply, and we must comply with the Stay Home measures very strictly,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong wrote in a Facebook post last week.
The Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA) has been implementing social distancing measures on the metro and bus systems, such as limiting the number of commuters who can enter train stations and buses.
Safe distancing stickers are progressively rolled out on all trains, train stations, buses, bus stops and bus interchanges to mark out spaces and seats that should be avoided by commuters. Thermal scanners are deployed at selected MRT stations to screen commuters before they enter the stations./.
VNA
