For the second day in a row, our daily caseload decreased, hopefully paving the way for even more measures to be eased in the future.
Our ICU utilisation rate also dropped, while our weekly infection growth rate rose slightly.
If you missed the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) update yesterday (26 Nov), here’s everything you need to know about our COVID-19 situation.
1,090 New COVID-19 Cases
1,090 new COVID-19 cases were reported yesterday, a decrease of 185 from the previous day’s tally. This is the lowest since 20 September this year.
The cases comprise 1,064 infections in the community, 22 in migrant worker dormitories, and four imported infections.
Among the local cases are 185 seniors above 60.
3 COVID-19 Deaths
Sadly, three more COVID-19 cases succumbed to the disease, bringing our death toll to 684.
Aged between 69 and 83, all of them had various underlying medical conditions.
MOH Closey Monitoring 5 Large Clusters
The health ministry is closely monitoring five large clusters with new cases, the largest of which is at Jenaris Home @ Pelangi Village, with 104 infections. 102 residents and two staff members have been infected there.
One case each was added to the clusters at the Society for the Aged Sick and Pacific Healthcare Nursing Home, taking their respective totals to 28 and 37.
25 residents are infected at the former, while all but one of the cases at the nursing home are residents.
The remaining two clusters are:
- ECON Healthcare Nursing Home (Chai Chee) – one new case, 37 in total
- Sunlove Senior Care Centre @ 70 Buangkok View – one new case, 25 in total
1,233 COVID-19 Cases in Hospital; 85 in ICU
At the moment, there are 1,233 COVID-19 cases warded in hospitals, most of whom are well and under observation.
214 serious cases require oxygen supplementation and 85 are in the intensive care unit, comprising 33 cases who are unstable and under close monitoring, and 52 who are critically ill and intubated.
Our ICU utilisation rate is currently at 54.2%, a slight increase from Thursday’s 56.8%.
Over the past seven days, the number of fully vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated cases who have been critically ill in the ICU are at 0.5 and 4.5 per 100,000 population respectively.
The same figures for seniors aged 60 and above are 1.6 and 41.8 respectively.
Over the same period, the number of fully vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated cases who died are 0.02 and 0.5 per 100,000 population respectively.
The same figures for seniors aged 60 and above are 0.1 and 5.5 respectively.
Currently, 85% of our population has been fully vaccinated and 86% have received at least one dose. 24% have received their booster shots.
Our weekly infection growth rate – the ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before – rose to 0.74 from Thursday’s 0.72.
WHO Warns ‘Omicron’ Variant is of Concern
It wasn’t all good news yesterday, however, as a new COVID-19 variant found in South Africa has sparked worry.
In fact, the World Health Organisation has labelled it a “variant of concern”.
Scientists are still trying to find out more about the virus, such as its transmissibility, but some countries, including the US and Canada, have already begun placing curbs on travellers from South Africa.
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