Most workplaces will close for a month in Singapore from April 7 , Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced on Friday , saying that the country needs to “make a decisive move now ” to stop coronavirus .
“We will close most workplaces except for essential services , ” Lee said , calling the move a “circuit breaker” aimed at interrupting a rise in coronavirus infections over the past week .
Singapore has seen cases of COVID – 19 , the disease caused by the virus, rise to 1 ,049 , with most of this week ’s cases described as “local .”
“ For half these [ new ] cases we don’t know where or from whom they caught the virus, ” Lee said .
More than 1 ,002 ,000 people have been diagnosed with the COVID – 19 disease worldwide, as the death toll surpassed 51 ,000 while about 208 ,000 patients recovered.
