Over half of 120 new COVID cases in Singapore linked to Bugis Junction, North Coast Lodge

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday (25 August) confirmed 120 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore, taking the country's total case count to 66,812.

The ministry also announced two COVID-19 related fatalities, bringing the total death toll here to 52. An 86-year-old Singaporean man, partially vaccinated, and a 95-year-old Singaporean woman, unvaccinated, are among 15 who had succumbed to the virus this month.

Of the new cases, 118 are locally transmitted infections including 26 linked to the cluster at North Coast Lodge dormitory, which now has 112 cases.

Another 38 were linked to the Bugis Junction cluster, announced on Tuesday, which now has 61 cases. Ten new cases were added to the cluster at Selarang Halfway House, also announced on Tuesday, now linked to 19 infections.

Of the remaining local infections, 29 are unlinked. Among them are two patients above the age of 70 who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, and are at risk of serious illness, the ministry added.

There are two imported cases, one of whom was detected upon their arrival in Singapore, while one developed symptoms during their stay-home notice or isolation period.

Two clusters have closed, bringing the total number of active COVID-19 clusters here to 68. No new cases were added to Singapore's largest cluster at the Jurong Fishery Port, linked to 1,155 cases, as well as the second-largest cluster – linked to various KTVs – which has 253 cases.

BHG Bugis Junction to close till 30 Aug; all Selarang Halfway House staff tested

The ministry on Wednesday said that of the 61 cases linked to the shopping centre, 51 are staff members, of whom 46 are staff of BHG, while 10 are visitors.

To break any potential chain of transmission and enable deep cleaning of the premises, the closure of BHG Bugis Junction will be extended for another five days until 30 August.

Staff who have been working in affected shops at Bugis Junction are being tested, and close contacts of confirmed cases will be quarantined, the MOH added.

Of the 19 cases linked to the cluster at the Selarang Halfway House, 17 are supervisees and two are their household or workplace contacts.

All staff of Selarang Halfway House and residents of the affected block have been tested for COVID-19, and all close contacts of cases and supervisees living in the same block will be placed on quarantine, the MOH said.

The ministry also noted that the number of new cases in the community has increased from 316 in the week before to 335 in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from 81 in the week before to 131 in the past week.

It added that the seven-day moving average number of all linked community cases and all unlinked community cases are 29.1 and 18.7 respectively.

19 require oxygen supplementation; 7 in ICU

At least 65,772 cases in Singapore, or over 99 per cent of the overall total, have fully recovered from their infection and have been discharged from the hospital.

As of Wednesday, 350 cases are currently warded, most of whom are well and under observation.

There are currently 19 cases of serious illness requiring oxygen supplementation and seven in critical condition in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Of those who have fallen very ill, 21 are patients above the age of 60, of whom 17 are completely unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, said the MOH.

Apart from the 52 patients who have died from COVID-19 complications, 15 others who tested positive for the virus were determined to have died from unrelated causes, including three whose deaths were attributed to a heart attack and another four whose deaths were attributed to coronary heart disease.

Over the last 28 days, the percentage of unvaccinated who became severely ill or died is 9.2 per cent, while that for the fully vaccinated is 1.5 per cent, the ministry noted.

As of Tuesday, about 8.62 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered under the national vaccination programme. Some 4.49 million have received at least one dose of the vaccine, with some 4.26 million having completed the full vaccination regimen.

Separately, 161,563 doses of other vaccines recognised in the World Health Organization’s Emergency Use Listing (WHO EUL) have been administered as of Tuesday, covering 85,242 individuals.

This means that 78 per cent of the population have completed their full regimen, or received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines, and 82 per cent have received at least one dose.

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