Singapore reports 1,090 new COVID-19 cases and 3 deaths; ICU utilisation rate at 54.2%

SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 1,090 new COVID-19 cases and three deaths linked to the coronavirus as of noon on Friday (Nov 26).

The fatalities were aged between 69 and 83. All of them had various underlying medical conditions. The Ministry of Health (MOH) did not specify what these conditions were.

Singapore's death toll from the coronavirus now stands at 684.

The overall intensive care unit (ICU) utilisation rate on Friday was 54.2 per cent – a decrease from Thursday's figure of 56.8 per cent. 

WEEKLY INFECTION GROWTH RATE

The weekly infection growth rate rose to 0.74 from Thursday's rate of 0.72. This refers to the ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before. 

It has stayed below 1 for 14 consecutive days.

The daily case count on Friday was the lowest since Sep 20. It was down from the 1,275 infections reported on Thursday.

Among the new cases, 1,086 were locally transmitted, comprising 1,064 infections in the community and 22 cases in migrant workers' dormitories.

The remaining four were imported cases, MOH said in its daily update released to the media at about 11.05pm. 

As of Friday, Singapore has reported 259,875 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.

HOSPITALISATIONS

A total of 1,233 cases were warded in hospital, said MOH. Among them, 214 required oxygen supplementation in general wards, 33 patients were unstable and under close monitoring in the ICU, and 52 were critically ill and intubated.

A total of 2,233 cases were discharged over the past day, of whom 301 were seniors aged 60 and above. 

As of Thursday, 94 per cent of the eligible population - those aged 12 and above - have completed their full regimen or received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines. About 24 per cent have received their booster shots. 

Of the 67,589 cases over the last 28 days, 98.7 per cent had mild symptoms or were asymptomatic, while 0.8 per cent required oxygen supplementation in the general ward, 0.2 per cent were in the ICU and 0.2 per cent died.

CLUSTERS

MOH said it was "closely monitoring" five large clusters. 

This included Jenaris Home @ Pelangi Village, which reported eight new cases, bringing the total number of infections to 104. Of the cases, 102 were residents and two were staff members.

On Friday, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) announced that Singapore will extend vaccinated travel lanes (VTLs) to six more countries next month - Thailand, Cambodia, Fiji, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Turkey.

This latest move will increase the number of countries with which Singapore has VTL arrangements to 27.

MOH said in a separate press release on Friday that Singapore will restrict entry to travellers with recent travel history to seven African countries after reports that a potentially more contagious COVID-19 variant may be circulating there.

From 11.59pm on Saturday, all long-term pass holders and short-term visitors with travel history within the last 14 days to Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe will not be allowed to enter Singapore or transit here.