As of Monday noon (6 Sep), the Ministry of Health (MOH) has preliminarily confirmed an additional 241 cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore.
This brings the total number of infection cases to 68,901.
There are 235 new cases of locally transmitted COVID-19 infection, of which 91 infections are linked to previous cases and have been placed on quarantine.
Another 34 cases are linked to previous cases and were detected through surveillance. 110 are currently unlinked.
Amongst the new cases are six seniors above 70 years who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, and are at risk of serious illness.
In addition, there are six new imported cases, who have been placed on on Stay-Home Notice (SHN) or isolated upon arrival in Singapore. Four were 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, 653 cases are currently warded in hospital. Most are well and under observation.
There are currently 24 cases of serious illness requiring oxygen supplementation, and five in critical condition in the intensive care unit (ICU).
Over the last 28 days, the percentage of unvaccinated who became severely ill or died is 6.7 per cent, while that for the fully vaccinated is 0.9 per cent, said MOH.
“As of 4 September 2021, 81% of our population has completed their full regimen/ received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines, and 83% has received at least one dose,” the Ministry added.
In August alone, 18 individuals have died from complications due to COVID-19 infection. In total, Singapore’s COVID-19 death toll has reached 55.
MOH to revamp its daily COVID-19 update
MOH will soon revamp its daily COVID-19 report to reflect “salient issues” being faced in this new phase of the battle, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, adding that the country will no longer be “chasing down every single case”.
Speaking at a press conference by the COVID-19 multi-ministry task force on Friday (3 Sep), Mr Ong noted that Singapore is now in “a very different stage” of its battle against COVID-19.
Singapore already has a high vaccination rate of more than 80 per cent, and therefore, the Minister believes that it is “timely” for MOH to revamp its daily COVID-19 report again.
With the vaccination rate high and plateauing, there is “very little need” for MOH to present a detailed report with graphs on daily vaccination rates, said Mr Ong.
“Perhaps when there are booster shots (being administered), we can start monitoring that,” he added.
Mr Ong further noted that the number of unlinked cases is also “not as relevant as before” now that Singapore is no longer “chasing down every single case”.
“As we are not chasing down every single case, which means unlinked numbers are also not as relevant as before,” he remarked.
However, Mr Ong acknowledged that the public will want to know more information about emerging clusters so as to avoid certain places.
“This is good and we should make those information available in a timely [and] relevant way so that the public can act upon it,” he noted.
