The COVID-19 roller coaster is not a ride any of us paid or signed up for, but we’re all on it at the moment.
Going up is always scary, but it’s soon followed by a rush of relief as we glide down.
After a couple of months of respite, it appears we’re on the way up again.
842 New COVID-19 Cases
842 new COVID-19 cases were reported yesterday (4 Jan), up from the 464 infections reported the day before.
Among the new cases, 334 were in the community and six in migrant worker dormitories. The remaining 502 were imported.
Three more cases passed away due to complications linked to COVID-19, taking Singapore’s death toll to 832.
Weekly COVID-19 Infection Rate in S’pore Rises to Above 1 Since 12 Nov 2021
Thanks to the recent rise in COVID-19 cases, our weekly infection growth rate rose to 1.09 up from Monday’s 0.95.
The weekly infection growth rate refers to the ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before.
This bad news is that this is the first time since 12 Nov that it has surpassed 1.0. It was when this ratio dipped below 1 late last year that the authorities relaxed more COVID-19 restrictions.
Concerningly, yesterday was also the 11th consecutive day our weekly infection growth rate had increased.
Omicron Wave Imminent: Health Minister
The latest wave seems to be driven by the highly-transmissible Omicron variant.
In an update on Facebook last Sunday, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said that Omicron cases have started to creep up, making up around 17% of local cases currently.
“This means an Omicron wave is imminent, and we need to be prepared for it,” he warned, adding that vaccinations and boosters remain key.
At the moment, 87% of our total population has completed their full regimen, and 88% has received at least one dose. 42% of our population has also received their boosters.
ICU Rate Down
One piece of good news is that our intensive care unit (ICU) utilisation rate dropped slightly to 43.8% from 44% the day before.
181 COVID-19 patients are in hospital, with 21 requiring oxygen supplementation. Three ICU patients required close monitoring while 13 patients were critically ill.
As Mr Ong noted, the number of COVID-19 deaths remain low, and our COVID-19 situation, at least for the time being, remains stable.
As for how this will change with the imminent Omicron wave, we’ll just have to wait and see, while hoping for the best.
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Featured Image: kandl stock / Shutterstock.com (Image for illustration purpose only)