Singapore's bid to contain dorm outbreaks may cause lag in coronavirus tally

A migrant worker undergoes a nose swab test as medical workers look on at a dormitory amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Singapore, April 28, 2020. REUTERS/Edgar Su

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's health ministry has said it is not able to test all migrant workers in dormitories and has been isolating some symptomatic patients first, a method that a government health adviser said was causing a lag in the reporting of cases.

The Southeast Asian island nation of 5.7 million people has nearly 15,000 confirmed coronavirus infections, one of the highest totals in Asia, largely because of outbreaks in cramped dormitories housing more than 300,000 mostly South Asian workers.