As of Thursday noon (19 Aug), the Ministry of Health (MOH) has preliminarily confirmed an additional 32 cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore.
This brings the total number of infection cases to 66,366.
There are 29 new cases of locally transmitted COVID-19 infection, of which 11 are linked to previous cases and have been placed on quarantine.
Five are linked to previous cases and were detected through surveillance. 13 are currently unlinked.
In addition, there are three new imported cases, who have been placed on Stay-Home Notice (SHN) or isolated upon arrival in Singapore. One was detected upon arrival in Singapore, while two developed the illness during SHN or isolation.
The Ministry will share further updates in its press release tonight.
Condition of confirmed cases & progress of national vaccination programme
According to last night’s press release, 402 cases are currently warded in hospital. Most are well and under observation.
There are currently 26 cases of serious illness requiring oxygen supplementation, and six in critical condition in the intensive care unit (ICU).
MOH also confirmed that a 64-year-old Singaporean man who was not vaccinated has died from COVID-19 complications on Monday (16 Aug).
The senior man, identified as Case 67560, is the country’s ninth reported COVID-19 death in this month alone.
According to MOH, the Singaporean man developed a cough on 2 August and was brought to Raffles Hospital the next day after suffering heart problems.
“He had not been vaccinated against COVID-19, and had a history of End Stage Renal Failure, ischaemic cardiomyopathy, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia,” said the Ministry.
Over the last 28 days, the percentage of unvaccinated who became severely ill or died is 8.8 per cent, while that for the fully vaccinated is 1.5 per cent, said MOH.
“As of 17 August 2021, 77% of our population has completed their full regimen/ received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines, and 82% has received at least one dose,” the Ministry added.
MOH to stop providing details of COVID-19 community cases
As Singapore moves towards a new phase of battling the pandemic, the MOH said in a statement on 29 June that it will no longer disclose details of each new COVID-19 case detected in the community.
“Besides daily numbers, we will include information on the key trends of the local situation, clusters we are monitoring, progress of vaccination and the number of people who suffered a severe form of the disease,” said the Ministry.
According to the MOH, this decision was made by the COVID-19 multi-ministry task force, with a “strong focus on preventing the virus from spreading, vaccinating our population and starting the process to transit to a new normal”.
