271 new COVID cases in Singapore, including 2 Omicron cases; 1 death

NOTE: The MOH has stopped issuing daily media releases on infection statistics. In line with the MOH's announcement, Gov.sg has also stopped its daily WhatsApp updates on such statistics.

SINGAPORE — Some 271 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Singapore on Saturday (18 December), including two new cases of the Omicron variant, bringing the country's total case count to 275,655.

Both Omicron cases are imported. No further details were available.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) also confirmed one more death due to the virus, marking the 90th day in a row with fatalities from the coronavirus reported in the city-state, with 87 people succumbing to it this month. MOH did not provide details on the fatality.

Saturday also marks the 16th day in a row with less than 1,000 cases reported.

Of the new cases, 227 are local – 221 are in the community, and six are residents of migrant worker dormitories. The remaining 44 are imported.

The ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before – or the weekly infection growth rate – is 0.58, up from Friday's 0.63. It is the 36th day in a row where the figure is lower than 1.

Singapore on Thursday confirmed that it detected 24 cases of Omicron in total, of whom three are locally transmitted infections.

Four others have also tested preliminarily positive for the new variant, including two airport workers and a couple who dined at four restaurants in the Orchard Road area.

Apart from the 810 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.

60 require oxygen supplementation; 35 in ICU

A total of 501 cases were discharged on Saturday, while 466 remain warded. Over the last 28 days, of the 24,688 infected individuals, 98.6 per cent had no or mild symptoms.

There are currently 60 cases of serious illness requiring oxygen supplementation.

A total of 35 cases are in the intensive care unit (ICU) – five are unstable and under close monitoring to prevent further deterioration, while 30 are critically ill and intubated.

The current overall ICU utilisation rate is 47.6 per cent, up from Friday's 46.4 per cent.

As of Saturday, the total number of individuals who have completed their full regimen or received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines is 96 per cent of the eligible population.

Among the total population, 87 per cent have done so, while 88 per cent have received at least one dose, and 33 per cent have received their booster shots.

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