Covid-19: 568 new locally transmitted cases in Singapore; 1 in 5 are seniors aged over 60

SINGAPORE — There were 568 locally transmitted cases of Covid-19 confirmed on Friday (Sept 10) and 127, or more than 20 per cent, of them are seniors over the age of 60.

Including five imported cases, there were a total of 573 new infections, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a statement.

This is the highest number of daily cases since Aug 5 last year, when 908 were recorded.

MOH said that the three imported cases were detected on arrival in Singapore and the other two developed the disease during their stay-home notice or isolation.

Singapore has recorded a total of 70,612 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic last year.

CLUSTERS UNDER CLOSE MONITORING

MOH said that it is closely monitoring 10 large clusters, compared to 11 the day before.

Among the clusters, Hu Lee Impex, which is located on Chin Bee Avenue near Boon Lay, saw four new cases on Friday, bringing the tally to 31.

MOH said that of the 31 cases, 26 are workers of the wholesale distributor of fruits and vegetables.

Another cluster is Sembcorp Marine Tuas Boulevard Yard, which has 55 cases after 23 more were added.

Most of the cases linked to the shipyard are residents of a workers dormitory at 38 Kian Teck Drive off Upper Jurong Road.

A construction site at 30 Sunview Way near Boon Lay saw 32 new cases for the day, bringing the tally to 69. MOH noted that this was a “workplace transmission” and that there is no evidence of Covid-19 spread beyond the worksite.

Bus interchanges at Bishan, Boon Lay, Clementi, Tampines and Toa Payoh have a combined total of 514 cases after 18 new cases were detected.

The cluster linked to the Bugis Junction mall now has 308 infections following the detection of three new cases.

SERIOUSLY ILL

There are 689 Covid-19 patients who are hospitalised as of Friday, up from the 664 the day before.

Data from MOH showed that the number of patients who are in serious condition and need oxygen support to help them breathe has dropped slightly to 25, down from 26 the day before.

There are also six patients who are in intensive care units, one fewer than the day before.

Of those who have fallen very ill, 27 are patients aged above 60.

Over the last 28 days, the percentage of unvaccinated who became severely ill or had died is 4.5 per cent, while that for the fully vaccinated is 0.7 per cent, MOH said.

The latest death reported was an 80-year-old Singaporean man who died on Friday.

VACCINATIONS

As of Sept 9, 81 per cent of the population had completed their full regimen or received two doses of Covid-19 vaccines, and 83 per cent had received at least one dose.

A total of 8,832,468 doses of Covid-19 vaccines under the national vaccination programme, which include the Pfizer-BioNTech or Comirnaty and Moderna vaccines, have been administered, covering 4,547,903 individuals.

A total of 4,401,020 individuals have completed the full vaccination regimen.

For other vaccines recognised in the World Health Organization’s Emergency Use Listing such as Sinovac, 175,974 doses had been administered as of Sept 9, covering 86,487 individuals.