SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 1,931 new COVID-19 cases and 13 more deaths linked to the coronavirus as of noon on Saturday (Nov 20).
The fatalities were aged between 62 and 98. All of them, except for an unvaccinated case, had various underlying medical conditions. The Ministry of Health (MOH) did not specify what these medical conditions were.
Singapore's death toll from the coronavirus now stands at 654.
The overall intensive care unit (ICU) utilisation rate is at 56.8 per cent - the lowest since records were released about a month ago.
The weekly infection growth rate increased slightly to 0.78 from Friday's 0.77.
The figure refers to the ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before.
The daily case count on Saturday is up from the 1,734 infections reported on Friday.
Among the new cases, 1,925 are locally transmitted, comprising 1,867 infections in the community and 58 cases in migrant workers' dormitories.
The remaining six are imported cases, MOH said in its daily update released to the media at about 11.30pm.
As of Saturday, Singapore has reported 250,518 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.
A total of 1,367 cases are warded in hospital, said MOH.
Among them, 199 require oxygen supplementation in general wards, 40 patients are unstable and under close monitoring in the ICU, and 60 are critically ill and intubated.
A total of 2,533 cases were discharged over the past day, of whom 349 are seniors aged 60 and above.
As of Friday, 94 per cent of the eligible population - those aged 12 and above - have completed their full regimen or received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
Twenty-three per cent have received their booster shots.
Of the 81,083 COVID-19 cases over the last 28 days, 98.8 per cent had mild symptoms or were asymptomatic, while 0.7 per cent required oxygen supplementation in the general ward, 0.2 per cent were in the ICU and 0.2 per cent died.
MOH said it is "closely monitoring" six large clusters, including one pre-school and four nursing homes.
The Institute of Mental Health cluster recorded one new case, bringing the total number of COVID-19 infections to 430. Twenty-eight of them are employees and 402 are residents, said MOH.
As the COVID-19 situation and proportion of severe cases have remained stable, Singapore announced that restrictions will be eased from Monday.
Fully vaccinated people, including those from different households, can dine together in groups of five . The limit on social gatherings and household visitors will also be raised from two to five people.
COVID-19 booster jabs will be offered to eligible individuals five months after completing their second dose , instead of six months currently.
Authorities expect that this will raise Singapore's booster vaccination coverage to 50 per cent by the end of December.
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The fatalities were aged between 62 and 98. All of them, except for an unvaccinated case, had various underlying medical conditions. The Ministry of Health (MOH) did not specify what these medical conditions were.
Singapore's death toll from the coronavirus now stands at 654.
The overall intensive care unit (ICU) utilisation rate is at 56.8 per cent - the lowest since records were released about a month ago.
WEEKLY INFECTION GROWTH RATE
The weekly infection growth rate increased slightly to 0.78 from Friday's 0.77.
The figure refers to the ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before.
The daily case count on Saturday is up from the 1,734 infections reported on Friday.
Among the new cases, 1,925 are locally transmitted, comprising 1,867 infections in the community and 58 cases in migrant workers' dormitories.
The remaining six are imported cases, MOH said in its daily update released to the media at about 11.30pm.
As of Saturday, Singapore has reported 250,518 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.
HOSPITALISATIONS
A total of 1,367 cases are warded in hospital, said MOH.
Among them, 199 require oxygen supplementation in general wards, 40 patients are unstable and under close monitoring in the ICU, and 60 are critically ill and intubated.
A total of 2,533 cases were discharged over the past day, of whom 349 are seniors aged 60 and above.
As of Friday, 94 per cent of the eligible population - those aged 12 and above - have completed their full regimen or received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
Twenty-three per cent have received their booster shots.
Of the 81,083 COVID-19 cases over the last 28 days, 98.8 per cent had mild symptoms or were asymptomatic, while 0.7 per cent required oxygen supplementation in the general ward, 0.2 per cent were in the ICU and 0.2 per cent died.
CLUSTERS
MOH said it is "closely monitoring" six large clusters, including one pre-school and four nursing homes.
The Institute of Mental Health cluster recorded one new case, bringing the total number of COVID-19 infections to 430. Twenty-eight of them are employees and 402 are residents, said MOH.
Related:
DINING IN, SOCIAL GATHERINGS TO RESUME IN GROUPS OF 5
As the COVID-19 situation and proportion of severe cases have remained stable, Singapore announced that restrictions will be eased from Monday.
Fully vaccinated people, including those from different households, can dine together in groups of five . The limit on social gatherings and household visitors will also be raised from two to five people.
COVID-19 booster jabs will be offered to eligible individuals five months after completing their second dose , instead of six months currently.
Authorities expect that this will raise Singapore's booster vaccination coverage to 50 per cent by the end of December.
Related:
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...