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DPA
Kuala Lumpur
Singapore confirmed 788 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, taking the total to 20,198, the second-highest reported number in East Asia after China.
The ministry stated that the “vast majority” of the new cases “are work permit holders residing in foreign worker dormitories.” 
Singapore has the world’s fourth-highest gross domestic product per head, according to an International Monetary Fund ranking. It depends on 1.4 million foreign workers to help run its open economy - 320,000 of them living in cramped dormitories that have become virus hotbeds.
Singapore diagnosed its first case of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, as far back as January 23.
The wealthy and trade-dependent city-state was in March lauded for keeping case numbers relatively low, even as the pandemic spread around the world - with just 1,000 confirmed by April 1.
However that landmark heralded the onset of a surge, with case numbers hitting 10,000 two weeks ago and double that number by Wednesday.
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07/05/2020
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