Coronavirus latest: Singapore cases spike, parts of US to ease lockdowns, as worldwide deaths cross 151,000

Singapore’s health ministry on Saturday announced a daily high of 942 new coronavirus cases, pushing the city state’s total to 5,992, with a “vast majority” of the new infections being migrant workers living in state-approved dormitories.

Though it had banned most incoming travel and later forced bars and restaurants to close, Singapore resisted imposing the strict lockdowns seen in neighbouring countries, until infections in the dormitories started to climb, prompting the government to impose a “circuit breaker” on April 7 to stem a third wave of infections.

“We must expect to see more dorm cases for a while longer,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong warned on Saturday.

The surge in Singapore’s cases means that the tiny city state, which has a population of 5.8 million, has almost as high a reported caseload as much bigger neighbours such as Philippines, with 6,087 infections, and Indonesia, which has 6,248 cases – the highest number of reported infections in Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, parts of the United States have announced moves to ease lockdown restrictions, even as the worldwide coronavirus death toll passed the 151,000 mark. Florida opened some of its beaches and parks, while other states like Texas and Minnesota unveiled their own plans for the coming days.

The pandemic has infected more than 2.2 million people worldwide, and authorities and experts are questioning how seriously official counts may be understating the extent of the situation.