842 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore; 438 Omicron infections confirmed

SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 842 new COVID-19 cases as of noon on Tuesday (Jan 4), including 502 imported infections.

There were three fatalities, and the death toll from coronavirus complications taking the country's death toll from coronavirus complications to 832, according to the latest infection statistics on the Ministry of Health's (MOH) website.

Tuesday’s case count was up from the 464 reported on Monday. 

Among the new cases reported on Tuesday, 340 were locally transmitted, comprising 334 in the community and six in migrant worker's dormitories.

A total of 438 new Omicron infections were confirmed on Tuesday, comprising 347 imported cases and 91 local cases.

The daily COVID-19 cases and new confirmed Omicron cases are presented as two separate sets of data on MOH's website.

The weekly infection growth rate on Tuesday was 1.09, the first time it had gone above 1 since Nov 12. The statistic - viewed by authorities as a key indicator in calibrating COVID-19 measures - refers to the ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before.

A rate of more than 1 means that the number of new weekly cases is rising.

As of Tuesday, Singapore has recorded 281,596 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.

HOSPITALISATIONS AND VACCINATIONS

The intensive care unit (ICU) utilisation rate was 43.8 per cent, down from the 44 per cent reported on Monday. 

There were 181 patients in hospital, with 21 requiring oxygen supplementation.

In the ICU, three patients required close monitoring while 13 patients were critically ill.

As of Monday, 91 per cent of Singapore's eligible population have completed their full vaccination regimen under the national vaccination programme.

This figure has been updated to include children aged five to 11 after vaccination for this age group started last week. About 42 per cent of the total population have received their vaccine booster shots.