It’s hard to celebrate small wins in our battle against COVID-19 right now due to the emergence of the Omicron variant, but there really are quite a few positive signs.
For one, our daily caseload yesterday dropped below 1,000 for the first time since 28 Nov.
What’s more, our ICU utilisation rate has stayed below 60% for a significant period of time, and the Ministry of Health (MOH) is only monitoring one large COVID-19 cluster.
If you missed MOH’s update on our COVID-19 situation yesterday (3 Dec), here’s everything you need to know.
9 COVID-19 Fatalities
Nine more COVID-19 cases succumbed to the virus, bringing our death toll to 744.
Aged between 67 and 98, all of them had various underlying medical conditions.
766 New COVID-19 Cases
766 new COVID-19 cases were reported yesterday (3 Dec), a decrease of 335 from the previous day’s tally.
The cases comprise 738 infections in the community, 11 in migrant worker dormitories, and 17 imported infections.
Among the local cases are 97 seniors above 60.
MOH Closely Monitoring 1 Large Cluster
As previously mentioned, MOH is closely monitoring one large cluster with new cases, namely at Jenaris Home @ Pelangi Village.
With two new cases, the cluster now has 128 infections. Of the 128 cases, two are staff members and 126 are residents.
931 COVID-19 Cases in Hospital; 63 in ICU
At the moment, there are 931 COVID-19 cases warded in hospitals, most of whom are well and under observation.
183 serious cases require oxygen supplementation and 63 are in the intensive care unit, comprising 13 cases who are unstable and under close monitoring, and 50 who are critically ill and intubated.
Our ICU utilisation rate is currently at 57.3%, a slight increase from Thursday’s 56.4%.
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 4.1 per 100,000 population respectively.
The same figures for seniors aged 60 and above are 2.0 and 36.5 respectively.
Over the same period, the number of fully vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated cases who died are 0.1 and 0.5 per 100,000 population respectively.
The same figures for seniors aged 60 and above are 0.3 and 5.6 respectively.
Currently, 87% of our population has been fully vaccinated and 87% have received at least one dose. 27% have received their booster shots.
Tightened Measures for VTL Travellers
Thanks to the Omircron variant, the Singapore government has been forced to tighten safety measures for those entering Singapore through the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL).
VTL travellers will soon have to take COVID-19 tests daily for seven days on arrival.
Currently, VTL travellers are only required to undergo a pre-departure test, an on-arrival polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, as well as supervised antigen rapid tests (ARTs) on Day 3 and Day 7 of their visit.
The new testing requirements will kick in on Monday (6 Dec), 11:59pm.
Read Also:
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- Preliminary Study Suggests That Omicron is 3 Times More Likely to Cause Reinfections Than Delta
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