Of 181 new COVID cases in Singapore, 138 linked to Jurong Fishery Port and KTV clusters

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday (21 July) confirmed 181 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore, taking the country's total case count to 63,621.

There are 179 new cases of locally transmitted infections in the community, of which 130 are linked to the Jurong Fishery Port cluster and eight belong to the KTV cluster. This brings the two largest clusters ever recorded in Singapore's community since the start of the pandemic to 454 and 215 cases, respectively.

Thirty cases are currently unlinked. Among the cases are four seniors above 70 years who are unvaccinated, and are at risk of serious illness.

The remaining two cases are imported and developed COVID-19 during their stay-home notice or isolation period here.

Two new clusters were announced on Wednesday linked to "Case 65231" and Marina Bay Sands Casino, bringing the total number of active clusters here to 28.

Three new cases were added to them, bringing the total number of cases linked to the clusters to four and 11, respectively. It is not the first time a cluster has been identified at the casino – previously, one had formed amongst its dealers and their close contacts.

The casino will be closed to all visitors from Thursday to 5 August.

Two more markets closed; ongoing transmission at Sakura Entertainment

The MOH said on Wednesday that it detected 22 cases among those who worked in or visited Clementi 448 Market & Food Centre, and 12 cases at Whampoa Drive Market.

Both markets will be closed to all members of the public from Thursday to 5 August to break the chain of transmission and enable deep cleaning of the premises.

Free COVID-19 testing to members of the public will also be extended to those who had visited the Clementi market as well as Haig Road Market & Food Centre between 7 and 21 July.

There are currently 41 markets and food centres that have cases linked to the Jurong Fishery Port cluster.

The MOH added that epidemiological investigations into the KTV cluster found that there is "likely ongoing transmission"of COVID-19 at Sakura Entertainment at 517 Geylang Road.

The addition means that there is likely ongoing transmission of COVID-19 at at least 23 such premises.

The ministry also noted that the number of new cases in the community has increased from 88 in the week before to 766 in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from 14 in the week before to 82 in the past week.

It added that the seven-day moving average number of all linked community cases and all unlinked community cases are 97.7 and 11.7 respectively.

7 require oxygen supplementation; 1 in ICU

Over 62,532 cases in Singapore, or over 99 per cent of the total tally, have fully recovered from their infection and have been discharged from the hospital.

As of Wednesday, 379 cases are currently warded, most of whom are well and under observation.

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

None among the eight cases are fully vaccinated, and two patients aged above 60 years old – one completely unvaccinated and the other partially vaccinated – have fallen very ill, said the MOH.

Apart from the 36 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, eight local cases required oxygen supplementation, were admitted to the ICU, or died. Of them, six are unvaccinated, two are partially vaccinated and none are fully vaccinated.

As of Tuesday, 6.84 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered under the national vaccination programme. Some 4.17 million have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Of some 2.79 million who have completed the full vaccination regimen, 120,152 are individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 and have received at least one dose while the remaining are those who have received two doses.

The MOH guidelines state that recovered individuals – who are likely to have a strong immune response against COVID-19 within the first six months after their infection – are recommended to receive a single dose of vaccine to further boost their immunity against the disease.

Those who have received the Sinovac's CoronaVac vaccine locally are not included in Singapore's national vaccination numbers. As of Tuesday, 70,504 doses of the China-made vaccine have been administered to 63,733 individuals.

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