845 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore; 327 Omicron infections confirmed

SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 845 new COVID-19 cases as of noon on Sunday (Jan 9), including 587 imported infections. 

There was one fatality, taking the country's death toll from coronavirus complications to 838, according to the latest infection statistics on the Ministry of Health's (MOH) website.

Sunday's case count was up from the 811 infections reported on Saturday.

Among the new cases reported on Sunday, 258 were locally transmitted, comprising 242 in the community and 16 in migrant worker's dormitories.

Separately, 327 new Omicron infections were confirmed on Sunday, comprising 218 imported cases and 109 local cases.

New COVID-19 cases and the number of confirmed Omicron cases are presented as two separate sets of data on MOH's website.

The weekly infection growth rate on Sunday was 1.80, up from Saturday's 1.73. This refers to the ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before.

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 Sunday, Singapore has recorded 285,647 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.

HOSPITALISATIONS AND VACCINATIONS

The intensive care unit (ICU) utilisation rate was 46.3 per cent, up from the 43.4 per cent reported on Saturday. 

There were 164 patients in hospital, with 14 requiring oxygen supplementation.

No patients in the ICU required close monitoring, though 11 patients were critically ill.

As of Saturday, 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 46 per cent of the total population have received their vaccine booster shots.