Singapore reports 1,761 new COVID-19 cases and 6 deaths; ICU utilisation rate rises to 56.6%

SINGAPORE:  Singapore reported 1,761 new COVID-19 cases and six deaths linked to the coronavirus as of noon on Saturday (Nov 27). 

The fatalities were aged between 55 and 82. All of them had various underlying medical conditions. The Ministry of Health (MOH) did not specify what these conditions were.

Singapore's death toll from the coronavirus now stands at 690.

The overall intensive care unit (ICU) utilisation rate on Saturday was 56.6 per cent – an increase from Friday's figure of 54.2 per cent. 

WEEKLY INFECTION GROWTH RATE

The weekly infection growth rate rose slightly to 0.75 from Friday's rate of 0.74. This refers to the ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before. 

It has stayed below 1 for 15 consecutive days.

The daily case count on Saturday was up from the 1,090 infections reported on Friday.

Among the new cases, 1,752 were locally transmitted, comprising 1,689 infections in the community and 63 cases in migrant workers' dormitories.

The remaining nine were imported cases, MOH said in its daily update released to the media at about 11.05pm. 

As of Saturday, Singapore has reported 261,636 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.

HOSPITALISATIONS

A total of 1,161 cases were warded in hospital. Among them, 199 required oxygen supplementation in general wards, 21 patients were unstable and under close monitoring in the ICU, and 58 were critically ill and intubated.

A total of 1,897 cases were discharged over the past day, of whom 329 were seniors aged 60 and above. 

As of Friday, 94 per cent of the eligible population in Singapore - those aged 12 and above - have completed their full regimen or received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines. About 25 per cent have received their booster shots. 

Of the 66,231 cases over the last 28 days, 98.7 per cent had mild symptoms or were asymptomatic, while 0.8 per cent required oxygen supplementation in the general ward, 0.2 per cent were in the ICU and 0.2 per cent died.

CLUSTERS

MOH said it was "closely monitoring" two large clusters. 

The cluster at Jenaris Home @ Pelangi Village has grown to 121 cases, comprising two staff members and 119 residents.