The emergence of the Omicron variant has cast a dark cloud over our COVID-19 outbreak, making it look worse than it is.
But the situation seems to be improving with every passing day.
Long gone are the days where we had COVID-19 cases in the three or four thousands, when hospitals ran the risk of getting overwhelmed with infections.
While things have been getting progressively better, yesterday was a particularly good day, where good news was in abundant supply.
S’pore Reports Only 255 COVID-19 Cases a Day
What a difference a month can make.
At the beginning of December, 1,324 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Singapore.
Yesterday (19 Dec), that figure plummeted to 255, the lowest daily caseload in more than three months.
Of the 255 cases, 182 were in the community and six in migrant workers’ dormitories.
The only concerning statistic was the number of imported cases, as it jumped to 67 yesterday, the highest daily number since the pandemic began. The previous high was 55, which was reported on 30 Jan this year.
Number of Cases in ICU Down by Half Since Dec
What’s more, the number of critically ill COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) has more than halved since the beginning of December.
61 critically ill patients were in the ICU on 1 Dec, whereas 29 are in the ICU now, as of 19 Dec. Another seven patients in the ICU are unstable and under close monitoring.
Consequently, the ICU utilisation rate is lower as well – now at 43.8%.
The number of COVID-19 patients who require oxygen supplementation has also gone down from 206 cases as at 1 Dec to 62 cases yesterday.
In total, 496 COVID-19 patients are in hospital at the moment, down from 771 as at 1 Dec.
The bad news was that three more patients died from complications yesterday, bringing our death toll to 813.
Weekly Infection Growth Rate Remains Low
The weekly infection growth rate – the ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before – is currently at 0.56.
The authorities began easing COVID-19 restrictions when the figure dipped below 1 a couple of months ago.
And since 13 Nov, it has remained under 1.
At the moment, 87% of our population has been fully vaccinated, with 88% having received at least one dose. 33% have received their booster shots.
26 Confirmed Omicron Cases
The only other blot on our COVID-19 report card is the 26 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant reported here. Two of them tested positive yesterday.
The new variant, characterised by an unusually high number of mutations, is believed to be more transmissible.
23 of the cases were imported, while the remaining three were from local transmissions.
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