1,782 new COVID cases, 5 more deaths in Singapore

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Tuesday (23 November) confirmed 1,782 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore – bringing the country's total case count to 255,431 – as well as five deaths due to the disease.

Tuesday marks the fifth day in a row with fewer than 2,000 cases reported in the city-state.

It is also the 65th day in a row with fatalities from COVID-19 reported in Singapore, with 256 people having succumbed to it so far this month.

The 668th to 672nd fatalities here were aged between 62 and 92. All, except for an unvaccinated case, had various underlying medical conditions.

Of the new cases, 1,775 are local – 1,754 are in the community and 21 are residents of migrant worker dormitories. The remaining seven are imported. In the community are 326 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 0.83, up from Monday's 0.79. This is the 11th day in a row where the figure is lower than 1.

Four active COVID-19 clusters are being closely monitored in Singapore, all of which are homes or senior care centres.

Of the listed clusters, the highest number of seven new cases was added to a cluster at ECON Healthcare Nursing Home's Chai Chee branch. The cluster has 35 cases, of whom all but one – a staff member – are residents.

Two new cases were added to the cluster at Pacific Healthcare Nursing Home at Lengkok Bahru, bringing the total to 25. All are residents.

One new case was each added to clusters at Sunlove Senior Care Centre @ 70 Buangkok View and Banyan Home @ Pelangi Village, now totalling 23 and 109 infections, respectively. The latter is the largest cluster of the four listed on Tuesday.

205 require oxygen supplementation; 92 in ICU

A total of 1,778 cases were discharged on Tuesday, of whom 304 are patients aged 60 and above, said the MOH.

Currently, 1,389 cases are warded in hospital. Over the last 28 days, of the 76,158 infected individuals, 98.7 per cent had no or mild symptoms.

There are currently 205 cases of serious illness requiring oxygen supplementation.

A total of 92 cases are in the intensive care unit (ICU) – 28 are unstable and under close monitoring to prevent further deterioration, while 64 are critically ill and intubated.

The current overall ICU utilisation rate is 55.2 per cent, up from Monday's 53.5 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 0.5 and 4.6 per 100,000 population, respectively.

Over the same period, the number of fully vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated cases who died are 0.04 and 0.7 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 1.8 and 41.8, respectively. The number of fully vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated seniors who died are 0.2 and 7.5, respectively, said the MOH.

Apart from the 672 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 Monday, 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 24 per cent have received their booster shots.

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