SINGAPORE, March 24 — The Ministry of Health (MoH) announced 54 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Singapore yesterday — the highest number reported in a single day.

The previous single-day high was 47, which was reported on March 21 and 18.

Out of the 54 new cases, 48 of them are imported and six are from local transmissions.

The 48 imported cases have a travel history to Europe, North America and member countries of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean).

These are Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Brunei.

Most of the imported cases, 34 of them, had travel history to the United Kingdom. 

With the exception of one case, the rest are all Singapore residents returning to the city-state and long-term pass holders.

The six locally-transmitted cases are currently unlinked and authorities have initiated contact tracing efforts.

The total number of infected patients in Singapore now stands at 509, out of which 152 cases have fully recovered and have been discharged.

Out of the 355 confirmed cases still in hospital, 15 of them are in critical condition.

On Saturday, Singapore announced the first two patients who died due to complications from the Covid-19 disease.

As of yesterday, MOH has identified 8,351 close contacts who have been quarantined. Out of these, over 2,500 are still being quarantined while the rest have completed their quarantine. — TODAY