SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 805 new COVID-19 cases as of noon on Wednesday (Jan 5), including 439 imported infections.
There were two fatalities, and the death toll from coronavirus complications rose by two, taking the country's death toll from coronavirus complications to 834, according to the latest infection statistics on the Ministry of Health's (MOH) website.
Wednesday's case count was down from the 842 reported on Tuesday.
Among the new cases reported on Wednesday, 366 were locally transmitted, comprising 353 in the community and 13 in migrant worker's dormitories.
A total of 440 new Omicron infections were confirmed on Wednesday, comprising 302 imported cases and 138 local cases.
The daily COVID-19 cases and new confirmed Omicron cases are presented as two separate sets of data on MOH's website.
The weekly infection growth rate on Wednesday was 1.28. The statistic - viewed by authorities as a key indicator in calibrating COVID-19 measures - refers to the ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before.
A rate of more than 1 means that the number of new weekly cases is rising. The weekly infection growth rate surpassed 1 for the first time since Nov 12 on Tuesday.
As of Wednesday, Singapore has recorded 282,401 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.
The intensive care unit (ICU) utilisation rate was 50.5 per cent, up from the 43.8 per cent reported on Tuesday.
There were 185 patients in hospital, with 17 requiring oxygen supplementation.
In the ICU, three patients required close monitoring while 14 patients were critically ill.
As of Tuesday, 91 per cent of Singapore's eligible population have completed their full vaccination regimen under the national vaccination programme.
This figure has been updated to include children aged five to 11 after vaccination for this age group started last week. About 43 per cent of the total population have received their vaccine booster shots.
At a COVID-19 multi-ministry task force news conference on Wednesday, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said that Singapore must brace for a “much bigger” COVID-19 infection wave from Omicron compared to that from the Delta variant.
At its peak, the number of Omicron cases could be “a few times” more than the approximately 3,000 daily cases that the Delta variant was registering in October and November last year, Mr Ong said.
He added that while Delta infections were doubling in six to eight days, Omicron infections may double in two to three days.
Of the 2,252 Omicron cases in Singapore thus far, none have required intensive care, Mr Ong noted.
He compared the situation to those in countries like South Africa, the United States and Canada, where infections from Omicron are less severe than that from the Delta variant.
Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram
Continue reading...
There were two fatalities, and the death toll from coronavirus complications rose by two, taking the country's death toll from coronavirus complications to 834, according to the latest infection statistics on the Ministry of Health's (MOH) website.
Wednesday's case count was down from the 842 reported on Tuesday.
Among the new cases reported on Wednesday, 366 were locally transmitted, comprising 353 in the community and 13 in migrant worker's dormitories.
A total of 440 new Omicron infections were confirmed on Wednesday, comprising 302 imported cases and 138 local cases.
The daily COVID-19 cases and new confirmed Omicron cases are presented as two separate sets of data on MOH's website.
The weekly infection growth rate on Wednesday was 1.28. The statistic - viewed by authorities as a key indicator in calibrating COVID-19 measures - refers to the ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before.
A rate of more than 1 means that the number of new weekly cases is rising. The weekly infection growth rate surpassed 1 for the first time since Nov 12 on Tuesday.
As of Wednesday, Singapore has recorded 282,401 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.
HOSPITALISATIONS AND VACCINATIONS
The intensive care unit (ICU) utilisation rate was 50.5 per cent, up from the 43.8 per cent reported on Tuesday.
There were 185 patients in hospital, with 17 requiring oxygen supplementation.
In the ICU, three patients required close monitoring while 14 patients were critically ill.
As of Tuesday, 91 per cent of Singapore's eligible population have completed their full vaccination regimen under the national vaccination programme.
This figure has been updated to include children aged five to 11 after vaccination for this age group started last week. About 43 per cent of the total population have received their vaccine booster shots.
SINGAPORE MUST BRACE FOR "MUCH BIGGER" OMICRON WAVE: ONG YE KUNG
At a COVID-19 multi-ministry task force news conference on Wednesday, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said that Singapore must brace for a “much bigger” COVID-19 infection wave from Omicron compared to that from the Delta variant.
At its peak, the number of Omicron cases could be “a few times” more than the approximately 3,000 daily cases that the Delta variant was registering in October and November last year, Mr Ong said.
He added that while Delta infections were doubling in six to eight days, Omicron infections may double in two to three days.
Of the 2,252 Omicron cases in Singapore thus far, none have required intensive care, Mr Ong noted.
He compared the situation to those in countries like South Africa, the United States and Canada, where infections from Omicron are less severe than that from the Delta variant.
BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its developments
Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram
Continue reading...