Singapore reports 3,432 new COVID-19 cases, down by more than 1,800 from the previous day; 15 more deaths

SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 3,432 new COVID-19 cases as of noon on Thursday (Oct 28) as 15 more people died from complications due to the virus.

The daily caseload is 1,892 fewer than Wednesday's figure of 5,324. 

The fatalities, who were aged between 62 and 98, had various underlying medical conditions. The Ministry of Health (MOH) did not specify what these conditions were.

This brings Singapore's death toll from the coronavirus to 364.

Among Thursday's cases, 3,423 infections are locally transmitted, comprising 3,171 in the community and 252 in migrant workers' dormitories.

Nine are imported cases, MOH said in its daily update released to media at 11.18pm.

The weekly infection growth rate is 1.13 as of Thursday. This refers to the ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before.

As of Thursday, Singapore has reported a total of 187,851 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.

Over the last 28 days, 98.7 per cent of the 91,146 infected individuals had no or mild symptoms.

Another 0.9 per cent required oxygen supplementation in the general ward, 0.1 per cent were unstable and under close monitoring in the intensive care unit (ICU), while 0.1 per cent were critically ill and intubated in the ICU. Those who have died make up 0.2 per cent.

HOSPITALISATIONS AND HOME RECOVERY

Among all the COVID-19 community cases that have been onboarded or admitted, 20,202 patients, or 73.6 per cent, are undergoing home recovery.

Another 4,581 are in community care facilities and 942 are in COVID-19 treatment facilities.

The remaining 1,732 patients are warded in hospital, mostly for observation, said MOH. Of these, 294 patients need oxygen supplementation in general wards.

In the ICU, 75 cases are unstable and under close monitoring to prevent further deterioration, and 61 are critically ill and intubated.

A total of 4,348 cases were discharged on Thursday, of which 710 are seniors aged above 60.

Over the past seven days, the number of fully vaccinated people who are critically ill in the ICU per 100,000-population are at 0.5, while non-fully vaccinated cases are at 4.3.

In the same period, the number of fully vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated cases who died are 0.1 and 0.9 per 100,000-population respectively.

Among seniors aged 60 and above, the number of fully vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated cases who are critically ill in the ICU are 2.1 and 34.0 respectively. The number of fully vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated seniors who died are 0.3 and 8.9 respectively.

As of Wednesday, 84 per cent of people in Singapore have received the full regimen or two doses of COVID-19 vaccines, while 85 per cent have received at least one dose and 14 per cent have received their booster shots.

ACTIVE CLUSTERS

MOH said it is closely monitoring six active clusters.

The cluster at PCF Sparkletots at Whampoa Block 85 reported 12 infections, with three new cases added on Thursday. Majority of the cases involved students, with two cases being household contacts of the students. 

Four new cases were added to the IMH cluster, bringing the total number of infections linked to the cluster to 158. The majority of the cases involved patients, with 12 staff members infected.

Bukit Batok Home for the Aged - the largest of the clusters on the list - reached 159 infections after two more cases was linked to the cluster.

Clusters at Maple Bear Loyang, AWWA Community Home for Senior Citizens and United Medical Centre - Toa Payoh also added new cases.

The Health Ministry said it is looking into the sudden surge in cases on Wednesday, which were mostly due to many positive cases detected by the testing laboratories on Tuesday. 

This comes after more than 5,000 cases were reported on Wednesday.

"MOH is looking into this unusual surge in cases within a relatively short window, and closely monitoring the trends for the next few days," the ministry said.