SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Tuesday (April 14) announced 334 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed infections here to 3,252.

Associate Professor Kenneth Mak, the director of medical services at MOH, said that of the new cases, none are imported, while 189 are linked to known clusters.

Another 23 are linked to other cases, he said, while the remaining 122 have no known links yet.

Speaking at a media briefing, Assoc Prof Mak said that the number of cases with no links does not necessarily mean that these cases were infected by unknown sources, but that contact tracing is still underway and the connections will likely be established in following days.

He said that of the 122 cases without links, 98 of them are long-term visitor-pass holders, and that a large majority are “likely to be” from foreign worker dormitories.

The remaining 24 are either Singapore citizens or permanent residents.

Of the cases that are linked to known clusters, Assoc Prof Mak said that only two are Singapore citizens or permanent residents.

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Responding to a question about whether the authorities are hopeful that the circuit breaker to restrict the population's movement can be lifted on schedule come May 4, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said it is important to remember that it just started not long ago.

Mr Gan noted that Singapore is only in the first week of this period, which began on April 7, and the authorities will need to continue to monitor the situation.

“At the same time, we also have to see the cases in the dormitories, as it is quite a separate challenge that we are facing.”

While there are still “some transmissions” going on within the dormitories, Mr Gan reiterated that they are being addressed by the multi-ministry task force that has been handling the Covid-19 crisis.

However, he pointed out that as the workers are already quarantined within the dormitories, it will be unlikely that they will infect the wider population.

Still, the authorities will continue monitoring transmissions outside the dormitories, particularly for cases without known links.

He also warned that the number of new cases are likely to rise over the “next few days, or a week or so”, because many of the infections would have been seeded before the circuit breaker measures were rolled out.

“We'll need time for these measures to take effect, and we also need to make sure that we will continue to monitor and adjust our measures as we go along,” Mr Gan said.

“If we are able to work together (and) if all Singaporeans observe the rules of safe distancing, I think we will be able to succeed in slowing down this transmission effectively.”

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