On 10 and 11 Oct, our case count was deceptively low.
The number of new cases dipped below 3,000 on both days, just after cases were approaching the 4,000 mark the day before.
But as the Ministry of Health (MOH) explained, this was due to fewer tests being done over the weekend.
So, most of us, including Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, expected cases to spike yesterday (12 Oct).
The good news is that it didn’t. The bad news is that we still have many COVID-19 patients in critical condition, and nearly a dozen passed away yesterday.
11 COVID-19 Fatalities; Two Fully Vaccinated
11 more COVID-19 cases succumbed to the virus, comprising five men and six women. The cases were aged between 66 and 98.
Three were unvaccinated against COVID-19, six were partially vaccinated, and two were vaccinated. All of them had various underlying medical conditions.
With these 11 deaths, Singapore’s COVID-19 death toll now stands at 183.
2,976 New Cases; Health Minister Relieved There Was No Spike
In a Facebook post last night, Mr Ong said he always feels anxious on Tuesdays, because that’s when cases detected on Monday would be reported, and numbers tend to spike after the weekend.
“The good news is that it didn’t today, to the great relief of the MTF (multi-ministry taskforce),” he wrote.
2,976 new infections were reported yesterday, including 2,721 in the community and 251 in migrant worker dormitories. The remaining four cases were from abroad.
Among the local cases were 519 seniors aged above 60.
Six more cases were added to the cluster at United Medicare Centre (Toa Payoh), a nursing home. It now has 99 cases, comprising 85 residents, 13 staff members, and one household contact of a case.
The overall number of new cases was low, but as Mr Ong noted, we continue to have many patients who need oxygen supplementation, ICU care, and sadly, fatalities.
1,619 COVID-19 Cases in Hospitals, 42 in ICU
At the moment, there are 1,619 COVID-19 cases warded in hospitals, most of whom are well and under observation.
291 severe cases require oxygen supplementation and 42 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
In addition, there are 16,932 cases undergoing home recovery, 2,626 in community care facilities and 335 are in COVID-19 treatment facilities.
Mr Ong said the COVID-19 task force will continue to monitor the situation closely over the next few days.
“But it would appear the stabilisation measures are helping to moderate the transmission wave, and infection numbers are no longer doubling every week. This is important to our healthcare system and our healthcare workers,” he said.
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