Singapore saw a huge jump in the new coronavirus infections on Monday, with a record 1,426 cases, making it the Southeast Asian country with the highest number of infections.

The Health Ministry, in a statement, said it "has preliminarily confirmed an additional 1,426 cases of COVID-19 infection," raising the total tally to 8,014 from 6,588 on Sunday.

Most of the new cases involve foreign workers who reside in overcrowded dormitories. That reflects a recent trend of infections among the wealthy city-state's estimated 200,000 low-skilled and low-paid foreign workers.

However, the situation in the wider community seems to be under control with the number of new infections dwindling as a sign that the government's partial lockdown is working.

The Health Ministry said that only 16 of the new cases are Singaporeans or permanent residents.

According to the World Health Organization's data on Sunday, the countries with the highest number of COVID-19 in the region included Indonesia with 6,248 cases, the Philippines with 6,087 cases and Malaysia with 5,305.


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