As of 8 am, April 13, 2020:
World count
There are now 1,840,093 confirmed cases of the Covid-19 in 177 countries. The United States has the highest number of confirmed cases worldwide, with 557,488, followed by Spain (166,831) and Italy (156,363). The state of New York now has more infected people than any country in the world, but experts see signs that the rate of infection is slowing.
The US now tops worldwide fatality rate
There have been 113,672 deaths worldwide since the first coronavirus cluster was identified in Wuhan, a city in central China, last December. The US now has the highest number of deaths (21,912), among the countries with confirmed Covid-19 cases, followed by Italy, with 19,899 deaths, and Spain, with 17,209 deaths. China has only reported 3,339 deaths from the coronavirus.
Boris Johnson discharged from hospital
Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, has been discharged from St Thomas’ Hospital in central London. He had been diagnosed with Covid-19 in late March and was hospitalized on Sunday, April 5. A spokesman from Downing Street said that he will be connoting his recovery at home.
The UK may be ‘worst affected country in Europe’
Sir Jeremy Farrar, a member of the UK government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, which advises the government, told the BBC that the UK is “likely to be one of the worst, if not the worst, affected countries in Europe”. He added that the country needs to learn from Germany’s experience, where mass testing was introduced in the early days of the outbreak.
Singapore— 233 new cases reported, 7 new clusters identified
The Ministry of Health (MOH) reported on the evening of April 12 that there are 223 new cases of Covid-19 in Singapore, bringing the country’s total to 2,532. An additional 32 patients have been discharged from hospital or isolation facilities, bringing the total number of those who have removed from the coronavirus to 560.
Among the new cases, MOH says that 51 are linked to known clusters, while 15 are connected to previous cases. Contact tracing is still underway for the other 167 cases. Among them, 16 are Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents and 10 are Work Pass or Long Term Pass holders, while 141 are Work Permit holders, most of whom live in dormitories, worksites, and other accommodations.
Seven new clusters have been identified in Singapore. One cluster is linked to local McDonald’s outlets, while another is connected to an eatery at Marina Bay Sands called the Black Tap. The other clusters are linked to the dormitories of migrant workers at Tuas View Dormitory and 85 Kallang Dormitory.
There are five cases connected to McDonald’s outlets at Lido, Forum Galleria, Parklane, and Geylang East Central, while eight cases are linked to the Black Tap. There are eight infections at Tuas View Dormitory and five at 85 Kallang Dormitory. All the staff at the affected McDonald’s outlets have been put on leave of absence.
Among the other clusters, 15 cases are linked to Acacia Lodge at Bukit Batok Street 23, which is the latest foreign workers’ dormitory to be gazetted as an isolation area wherein residents have been put under quarantine; 20 cases to 36 Woodlands Industrial Park E1, and eight cases are linked to a Kenyon/UBS construction site at 9 Penang Road. —/TISG
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Boris Johnson making ‘good progress’ in virus recovery as UK death toll nears 10,000