Singapore May Take a Few Weeks to Curb Virus in Worker Dorms, Straits Times Reports

(Bloomberg) -- Singapore's coronavirus cases in foreign worker dormitories may take a few weeks to reduce low enough to suggest the spread is under control, Health Ministry's chief health scientist Professor Tan Chorh Chuan said in an interview with the Straits Times.

Key Insights

• Even after the virus is under control, not all dormitories that have been placed under quarantine will reopen at the same time as some are more affected than others, Tan told the paper in a report published Friday.
• Researchers and policymakers will aim to have a balance between managing the outbreak and allowing life to carry on more normally, Tan told the Straits Times in a separate report.
• Tan is Singapore's chief health scientist since 2018, and had led the country's public health response to the 2003 SARS epidemic.
• Straits Times said a total of 38 out of 43 purpose-built dormitories in the city-state have virus clusters. At least 20 smaller factory-converted living spaces also have clusters.
• READ: Singapore's Lee Says Cases Must Ease Before Economy Restarts
• READ: Virus Surge in Southeast Asia Migrant Workers Serves as Warning

Get More

• Virus update in other countries: U.S. coronavirus cases recorded the slowest daily increase for the month of April. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Britain is past the peak of the outbreak. Spain recorded steep declines in new cases and Germany is set to extend restrictions

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