KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 — Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed an additional 447 cases of Covid-19 infection yesterday, the largest single daily spike, to push the tally to 3,699 for the republic.

Of these, 409 cases involved Work Permit holders, with 404 residing in dormitories and five outside dormitories.

The MOH said the number of new cases among Work Permit holders had increased significantly from an average of 48 cases per day in the week before to 260 cases per day in the past week.

"This is especially with our ongoing efforts to undertake more active testing of the workers. The vast majority of them are residing in dormitories,” the MOH said in a statement today.

Four Malaysians are part of the new cases, with one linked to the Tech Park Crescent cluster while three others are identified as local unlinked cases.

The republic has also identified four new clusters of infections -- 10, Kian Teck Crescent Dormitory; 26, Kian Teck Dormitory; 234, Balestier Road; and 460, Mandai Lodge.

"We have not had any new imported cases in the past five days,” said the ministry, adding that 38 cases were classified as local cases in the community.

In the past two weeks, the MOH said the number of new cases in the community had remained stable, with an average of 36 cases per day.

Of the new cases, the ministry noted that 68 percent were linked to known clusters, while the rest were pending contact tracing.

Updating on the condition of confirmed cases, the MOH said 652 had fully recovered and discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities.

Of the 1,496 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving, while 26 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

 A total of 1,540 cases, who are clinically well but still test positive for Covid-19, are isolated and cared for at community facilities.

Singapore has so far reported 10 deaths due to Covid-19.

The MOH noted that case 3,381 involving an 80-year-old Malaysian man, passed away on April 14 from causes not related to Covid-19.

Under the MOH’s enhanced surveillance, he was tested for Covid-19 after his demise, and his test result came back positive, it said. — Bernama