Singapore confirms 2 Omicron cases; records 662 new COVID infections and 4 deaths

NOTE: The MOH will stop issuing daily media releases on infection statistics from Tuesday.

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Monday (6 December) confirmed 662 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore – bringing the country's total case count to 269,873 – as well as four deaths due to the disease.

It also confirmed that two imported cases who were announced to have tested preliminarily positive for the new Omicron variant on 2 December are infected with it.

"The National Public Health Laboratory has completed whole-genome sequencing for the cases, and has confirmed that they are infected with the Omicron variant," said the MOH.

Both cases, who arrived from Johannesburg in South Africa, are fully vaccinated, and have mild symptoms of cough and scratchy throat. They were isolated upon their arrival in Singapore on 1 December, and had not interacted in the community, reiterated the ministry.

A third case was announced to have tested preliminarily positive for Omicron on Sunday.

Monday marks the fourth day in a row with less than 1,000 cases reported in the city-state. It is also the 78th day in a row with fatalities from COVID-19 reported in Singapore, with 40 people having succumbed to it this month.

The 760th to 763rd fatalities here were aged between 81 and 97. All had various underlying medical conditions.

Of the new cases, 651 are local – 638 are in the community and 13 are residents of migrant worker dormitories. The remaining 11 are imported.

In the community are 106 cases who are aged 60 years and above, said the MOH.

The ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before – or the weekly infection growth rate – is 0.64, down from Sunday's 0.66. This is the 24th day in a row where the figure is lower than 1.

One active COVID-19 cluster at THK Home For Disabled @ Sembawang is being closely monitored. Four new cases were added to the cluster, bringing the total to 48. Of them, all but two – both staff members – are residents.

142 require oxygen supplementation; 53 in ICU

A total of 1,198 cases were discharged on Monday, of whom 182 are patients aged 60 and above, said the MOH.

Currently, 850 cases are warded in hospital. Over the last 28 days, of the 48,805 infected individuals, 98.7 per cent had no or mild symptoms.

There are currently 142 cases of serious illness requiring oxygen supplementation.

A total of 53 cases are in the intensive care unit (ICU) – six are unstable and under close monitoring to prevent further deterioration, while 47 are critically ill and intubated.

The current overall ICU utilisation rate is 48 per cent, down from Sunday's 51.2 per cent.

The MOH noted that over the past seven days, the number of fully vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated cases who are critically ill in the ICU are at 0.5 and 3.8 per 100,000 population, respectively.

Over the same period, the number of fully vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated cases who died are 0.04 and 0.6 per 100,000 population, respectively, it added.

Among those aged 60 and above, the number of fully vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated cases who are critically ill in the ICU are 1.9 and 32.9, respectively. The number of fully vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated seniors who died are 0.2 and 6.3, respectively, said the MOH.

Apart from the 763 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.

As of Sunday, the total number of individuals who have completed their full regimen or received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines is 96 per cent of the eligible population.

Among the total population, 87 per cent have done so, while 87 per cent has received at least one dose, and 28 per cent has received their booster shots.

Authorities said last week that the number of unvaccinated people aged 60 years and above has dropped from 57,769 to 43,611 with the adjustment of Singapore's population base.

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