113 unlinked COVID-19 cases among 187 new locally transmitted infections in Singapore

SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 187 new locally transmitted COVID-19 infections as of noon on Thursday (Sep 2), including 113 infections with no links to previous cases.

This is the third consecutive day where unlinked locally transmitted cases have surpassed linked cases.

Fifty-six of the new infections were linked to previous cases and had been placed on quarantine.

Another 18 linked infections were detected through surveillance testing, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

Among the new cases, three people above the age of 70 were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated and at risk of serious illness, said MOH.

There were also four imported cases, bringing the total number of new cases on Thursday to 191.

This is the highest number of locally transmitted cases since Aug 7 last year, when there were 236 infections among dormitory residents and the community.

MORE THAN 300 CASES LINKED TO BUS INTERCHANGE CLUSTERS

No new clusters were reported on Thursday, said MOH, adding that three clusters have closed. 

A total of 341 cases were linked to clusters at eight bus interchanges, namely Tampines, Boon Lay, Jurong East, Toa Payoh, Bishan, Clementi, Punggol and Sengkang.

The Bugis Junction cluster grew to 246 cases, with eight new cases linked to it. A new case was added to the cluster at the Institute of Mental Health, bringing the total to 15. 

There are currently 65 active clusters in Singapore. 

FIVE IN CRITICAL CONDITION

A total of 528 cases were warded in hospital, with five in critical condition in the intensive care unit and 27 cases of serious illness requiring oxygen supplementation. 

Of those who have fallen very ill, 22 are above the age of 60, of whom 12 were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, said MOH.

"There is continuing evidence that almost all fully-vaccinated individuals do not suffer serious disease when infected, unless if they had underlying medical conditions that made them more susceptible," said MOH. 

Over the last 28 days, the percentage of unvaccinated who became severely ill or died was 8.2 per cent, while that for the fully vaccinated was 1.1 per cent.

80% OF POPULATION FULLY VACCINATED

More than 8.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered under the national vaccination programme, with more than 4.3 million people having completed the full vaccination regimen as of Wednesday.

In addition, 168,484 doses of other vaccines recognised in the World Health Organization’s emergency use listing have been administered as of Wednesday, covering 85,860 people.

In total, 80 per cent of Singapore's population has completed the full regimen or received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccines, and 83 per cent has received at least one dose. 

TIGHTER MEASURES AT BUS INTERCHANGES

Bus interchanges have segregated staff resting areas from dining areas, as part of enhanced measures following the detection of several COVID-19 clusters.

Physical separators have also been set up at designated smoking areas and the cleaning frequency at “high touch points” in staff areas will be doubled to at least once every hour, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA).

As of Wednesday night, 314 COVID-19 cases have been linked to clusters at Tampines, Boon Lay, Jurong East, Toa Payoh, Bishan, Punggol, Clementi and Sengkang bus interchanges.

All the cases have so far been confined to employees and some of their household members, said LTA, adding that 284 frontline workers tested positive for the coronavirus from July to Sep 1.

As of Thursday, Singapore has reported a total of 67,991 COVID-19 cases and 55 deaths from the disease.