Singapore's daily community COVID cases rise to 4,400 in past week on average: MOH

SINGAPORE — The average daily COVID-19 cases in the community over a seven-day period have risen from around 2,600 a week ago to almost twice at 4,400 as of Thursday (6 October), said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

Hospitalised COVID-19 cases have also increased from 247 a week ago to 342, with those in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) increasing from nine to 13 within the same period, MOH added in a press statement on Friday.

"This is likely due to increased social activities, SMMs being stepped down, and also the BA.2.75 and BA.2.10 Omicron subvariants, which have been detected around the world, now circulating in Singapore," MOH said.

So far, there is no evidence that the subvariants have resulted in more severe illness, it added.

The increase in daily cases is not unexpected as Singapore continues to open up its economy and society, MOH said.

"Nevertheless, we need to each keep our COVID-19 vaccination up-to-date as vaccination has become our primary defence against COVID-19."

Singapore's weekly COVID-19 infection growth rate rose to 1.7 on Thursday, up from 1.29 a week earlier, according to MOH's website.

The rate refers to the ratio of community cases for the past week over the previous week, where a figure of more than one means that the number of new weekly cases is increasing.

Last Friday, MOH announced that about 1,000 more COVID-19 cases are being reported every day in Singapore, with the Omicron BA.2.75 strain, unofficially dubbed “Centaurus”, on the rise and accounting for some 25 per cent of daily infections.

It also said that reinfections have increased from about 6 per cent of all reported cases at the beginning of September, to about 10 per cent last week.

As of Thursday, Singapore has had 1,936,270 reported COVID-19 cases and 1,625 related deaths.

As of Wednesday, 92 per cent of Singapore's total population have completed the full vaccination regime, while 79 per cent have received their booster shots.

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