Singapore COVID infection rate rises to 1.69, 777 new cases

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Friday (7 January) confirmed 777 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore, bringing the country's total case count to 283,991.

The weekly infection growth rate also rose to above 1 for the fourth consecutive day. The rate, or the ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before, was at 1.69 on Friday, up from 1.5 on Thursday, 1.28 on Wednesday and 1.08 on Tuesday.

There were also two more deaths due to the disease, with total fatalities at 837 as of Friday.

Of the new cases, 366 are in the community, 15 are residents of migrant worker dormitories, and the remaining 396 are imported.

Omicron cases

A total of 535 new Omicron cases were confirmed on Friday, of whom 251 are local and 284 are imported.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Health's director of medical services Kenneth Mak said at a media conference that the coming wave of Omicron cases may see up to 15,000 cases of the coronavirus per day in the "worst case scenario".

A total of 338 cases were discharged on Friday, while 165 remain warded. Over the last 28 days, of the 7,436 infected individuals, 98.9 per cent had no or mild symptoms.

There are currently 10 cases of serious illness requiring oxygen supplementation.

A total of 13 cases are in the intensive care unit (ICU) – one is under close monitoring, while 12 are critically ill. The current overall ICU utilisation rate is 43.2 per cent.

As of Thursday, the total number of individuals who have completed their full regimen or received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines is 91 per cent of the eligible population.

Among the total population, 87 per cent have done so, while 89 per cent have received at least one dose, and 44 per cent have received their booster shots.

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