813 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore; 365 Omicron infections confirmed

SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 813 new COVID-19 cases as of noon on Thursday (Jan 6), including 390 imported infections.

There was one fatality, taking the country's death toll from coronavirus complications to 835, according to the latest infection statistics on the Ministry of Health's (MOH) website.

Thursday’s case count was up from the 805 reported on Wednesday. 

Among the new cases reported on Thursday, 423 were locally transmitted, comprising 404 in the community and 19 in migrant worker's dormitories.

A total of 365 new Omicron infections were confirmed on Thursday, comprising 234 imported cases and 131 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 Thursday was 1.50, up from Wednesday's 1.28. 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. The weekly infection growth rate surpassed 1 for the first time since Nov 12 on Tuesday. 

As of Thursday, Singapore has recorded 283,214 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.

HOSPITALISATIONS AND VACCINATIONS

The intensive care unit (ICU) utilisation rate was 47.1 per cent, down from the 50.5 per cent reported on Wednesday.

There were 171 patients in hospital, with 17 requiring oxygen supplementation.

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

As of Wednesday, 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 44 per cent of the total population have received their vaccine booster shots.