SINGAPORE — It will take some time for Singapore’s circuit-breaker measures to show results and Covid-19 infections in foreign workers’ dormitories can be expected to grow for a while more, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Saturday (April 18).

Outside of the dormitories, there are “a few early signs” that the circuit breaker is bringing cases down in the broader community, he added on Day 12 of enhanced measures which entailed the closures of non-essential workplaces and schools. 

“But we are still worried about hidden cases circulating in our population, which are keeping the outbreak going,” Mr Lee wrote on Facebook.

Mr Lee's comments were posted before the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced a record daily high of 942 cases on Saturday.

MOH said the vast majority of new cases comprise work permit holders residing in foreign worker dormitories, without giving exact figures.

This brings the total number of cases here to 5,992.

As of Friday, almost two thirds of the total cases in Singapore were made up of foreign workers who stay in dormitories.

On Friday, MOH said that outside of the dormitories, the number of new cases in the community has decreased, from an average of 40 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 32 per day in the past week.

“We are working to break the chain of transmission in the dorms, to reduce the number of new cases,” Mr Lee wrote, sharing a TODAY article on experts’ stock-take of the measures on Day 11, when it was hoped that positive effects would show.

“It will take some time to show results, so we must expect to see more dorm cases for a while longer. But we are building up our healthcare and isolation facilities to handle the load,” he added.

“The next few days will be critical. All of us must do our part, in order to defeat Covid-19.”

Referring to the TODAY article which “clearly explained the rationale for the circuit breaker measures, and what outcomes Singapore hopes to see”, Mr Lee noted that the numbers in the foreign worker dormitories are still rising.  

“The migrant workers who are ill are getting the medical treatment they need,” he added. “Fortunately, the vast majority of the cases are mild, because the workers are young. Our healthcare teams continue to monitor their conditions.”