Singapore records over 800 new COVID cases for 2nd straight day

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday (15 September) confirmed 807 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore, taking the country's total case count to 73,938.

This marks the second day in a row with over 800 cases recorded in the city-state. With 837 new cases, Tuesday had marked the highest daily recorded COVID-19 cases here since 5 August last year, when 908 infections were reported.

Of Wednesday's cases, 804 are local infections: 770 are in the community, while 34 are dormitory residents. Among the local cases are 238 people above the age of 60, said the MOH.

The remaining three cases are imported, of whom one was detected upon their arrival in Singapore, while two developed the illness during their stay-home notice or isolation period.

Twenty active COVID-19 clusters in Singapore are being closely monitored, said the MOH. Five of them are linked to staff members at bus interchanges in Toa Payoh, Tampines, Boon Lay, Bishan, and Clementi.

Four are linked to nursing homes, including a new cluster at Jamiyah Nursing Home which had the highest number of 13 new cases added to it. The cluster comprises 10 residents and three staff members.

Residents and staff members on the affected level are being tested, while all other staff members and residents will also undergo testing, said the MOH.

Eleven new cases were added to the cluster at Chinatown Complex, bringing the total to 197. The majority of them – 154 cases – are stallholders and assistants at the complex.

Nine new cases were also added to the cluster at the 7 Senoko South Road dorm, where "intra-dormitory transmission" of the virus is ongoing. Residents have been placed on quarantine, and are being tested, said the MOH.

Daily new cases in Singapore are expected to rise to 1,000 over the upcoming weeks, and 2,000 by early October, if the current rate of infection persists, said authorities here.

76 require oxygen supplementation; 9 in ICU

Over 66,600 cases in Singapore, or some 99 per cent of the overall total, have fully recovered from their infection and have been discharged from the hospital.

As of Wednesday, 822 cases are currently warded, most of whom are well and under observation.

There are currently 76 cases of serious illness requiring oxygen supplementation and nine in critical condition in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Of those who have fallen very ill, 66 are patients above the age of 60, said the MOH.

Apart from the 58 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, the percentage of local cases who were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms is 98.2 per cent. Of the 124 cases who required oxygen supplementation over the same period, 59 were not fully vaccinated and 65 were fully vaccinated. Of the nine who had been in the ICU over the same period, five were not fully vaccinated and four were fully vaccinated.

As of Tuesday, about 8.88 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered under the national vaccination programme. Some 4.56 million have received at least one dose of the vaccine, with some 4.43 million having completed the full vaccination regimen.

Separately, 179,086 doses of other vaccines recognised in the World Health Organization’s Emergency Use Listing (WHO EUL) have been administered as of Tuesday, covering 86,731 individuals.

This means that 81 per cent of the population have completed their full regimen, or received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines, and 84 per cent have received at least one dose.

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