Singapore confirms record jump of 1,426 COVID-19 cases

Among the new cases, 16 cases are of Singaporeans or permanent residents. The city-state's tally of cases stands at 8,014, with 11 fatalities.

A doctor attends to a migrant worker with coronavirus symptoms at HealthServe clinic, a non-governmental organisation that provides low-cost medical and dental care to migrant workers, during the coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) in Singapore April 8, 2020. The worker was later sent to a hospital in an ambulance.

Singapore's health ministry confirmed on Monday an additional 1,426 cases of the COVID-19 infection, a record daily jump, mainly among foreign workers living in dormitories.

Authorities have managed to mitigate the spread of the virus and the COVID-19 respiratory disease it causes among Singapore's citizens by rigorous contact tracing and surveillance, earning praise from the World Health Organization.

But the disease is spreading rapidly within the large migrant worker community, highlighting what rights groups say is a weak link in containment efforts. Authorities have ramped up testing for the disease in the dormitories.

Among the new cases, 16 cases are of Singaporeans or permanent residents. The city-state's tally of cases stands at 8,014, with 11 fatalities.

Singapore has the highest number of cases of the disease in Southeast Asia, based on official data.