3,474 new COVID cases, 47-year-old among 7 deaths in Singapore

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday (17 November) confirmed 3,474 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore – bringing the country's total case count to 244,815 – as well as seven deaths due to the disease.

Wednesday comes a day after Singapore recorded 2,069 new cases for two days in a row. It also marks the 59th day in a row with fatalities from COVID-19 reported in Singapore, with 203 people having succumbed to it so far this month.

The 613th to 619th fatalities here were aged between 47 and 83. All had various underlying medical conditions.

Of the new cases, 3,464 are local – 3,320 are in the community and 144 are residents of migrant worker dormitories. The remaining 10 are imported. In the community are 506 cases who are aged 60 years and above, said the MOH.

The ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before – or the weekly infection growth rate – is reported to be 0.89, up from Tuesday's 0.88. This is the fifth day in a row where the figure is lower than 1.

The rate was 1.04 last Friday, breaking a nine-day streak of recording a figure lower than 1.

Nine active COVID-19 clusters are being closely monitored in Singapore, including six nursing or welfare homes.

Of the listed clusters, the highest number of seven new cases was added to a cluster at Jamiyah Nursing Home. The cluster has 27 cases, all of whom are residents.

Five new cases were added to a cluster at Banyan Home @ Pelangi Village – the largest of the nine – totalling 108 infections.

Three new cases were each added to clusters at ECON Medicare Centre & Nursing Home's Choa Chu Kang branch and PCF Sparkletots @ Chong Pang Block 115B, totalling 10 and 18 infections, respectively.

242 require oxygen supplementation; 122 in ICU

A total of 2,555 cases were discharged on Wednesday, of whom 401 are patients aged 60 and above, said the MOH.

Currently, 1,468 cases are warded in hospital. Over the last 28 days, of the 86,055 infected individuals, 98.7 per cent had no or mild symptoms.

There are currently 242 cases of serious illness requiring oxygen supplementation.

A total of 112 cases are in the intensive care unit (ICU) – 48 are unstable and under close monitoring to prevent further deterioration, while 64 are critically ill and intubated.

The current overall ICU utilisation rate is 62.6 per cent, down from Tuesday's 63.3 per cent.

The MOH noted that over the past seven days, the number of fully vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated cases who are critically ill in the ICU are at 0.6 and 5.2 per 100,000 population, respectively.

Over the same period, the number of fully vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated cases who died are 0.1 and 0.9 per 100,000 population, respectively, it added.

Among those aged 60 and above, the number of fully vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated cases who are critically ill in the ICU are 2 and 46.3, respectively. The number of fully vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated seniors who died are 0.3 and 9.6, respectively, said the MOH.

Apart from the 619 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.

As of Tuesday, 94 per cent of Singapore's eligible population – aged 12 and above – have received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines or completed their full regimen.

Among the total population, 85 per cent have received two doses, 86 per cent have received at least one dose, and 21 per cent have received their booster shots.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore