Record number of new COVID-19 community cases in Singapore for second straight day, with 246 infections

SINGAPORE: Singapore reported a record number of new COVID-19 community cases for the second straight day on Saturday (Sep 4).

Of the 253 new locally transmitted cases reported on Saturday, 246 were in the community while seven were in dormitories, figures from the Ministry of Health (MOH) showed. On Friday, Singapore reported 210 new COVID-19 community cases.

Of the locally transmitted cases reported on Saturday, 116 were unlinked to previous infections, while 84 infections were linked to previous cases and had been placed on quarantine.

Another 53 linked infections were detected through surveillance testing, said MOH in its daily update.

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

There were also six imported cases, who were placed on stay-home notice or isolated upon arrival. Four infections were detected upon arrival while two developed the illness during the stay-home notice or isolation period.

In total, Singapore reported 259 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday.

CGH, BUS INTERCHANGE CLUSTERS GROW

Three new clusters were identified, namely at Sembcorp Marine Tuas Boulevard Yard, Radiance Student Care Centre in Serangoon, and among staff at Orient Goldsmiths and Jewellers in Toa Payoh.

The Changi General Hospital cluster identified on Friday - the second active cluster at the hospital - grew to 36 cases, MOH said on Saturday.

There were a total of 416 cases across the eight clusters at Tampines, Boon Lay, Jurong East, Toa Payoh, Bishan, Clementi, Punggol and Sengkang bus interchanges.

The Bugis Junction cluster also grew to 261 cases.

One cluster was closed on Saturday, leaving 62 active clusters in Singapore.

FIVE IN CRITICAL CONDITION

A total of 608 cases were warded in hospital. There were five cases in critical condition in the intensive care unit and 22 cases of serious illness requiring oxygen supplementation.

Of those who have fallen very ill, 22 were 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," the Health Ministry added.

Over the last 28 days, the percentage of unvaccinated who became severely ill or died is 7.1 per cent, while that for the fully vaccinated was 1.1 per cent.

81% COMPLETED FULL VACCINE REGIMEN

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 Friday.

In addition, 170,144 doses of other vaccines recognised in the World Health Organization’s emergency use listing have been administered as of Friday, covering 86,019 people.

In total, 81 per cent of Singapore's population has completed the full regimen or received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccines, while 83 per cent has received at least one dose.

As of Saturday, Singapore has reported a total of 68,469 COVID-19 cases and 55 deaths from the disease.