By As of Wednesday noon (8 Sep), the Ministry of Health (MOH) has preliminarily confirmed an additional 349 cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore.
This brings the total number of infection cases to 69,582.
There are 347 new cases of locally transmitted COVID-19 infection.
No info is being provided on the unlinked cases.
Amongst the new cases are three were above the age of 70 and unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, and at risk of serious illness, said MOH.
In addition, there are two imported infections.
The Ministry will share further updates in its press release tonight.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Mr Lawrence Wong, Finance Minister and co-chair of the Multi Ministry Taskforce for COVID, spoke on the need for new measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 in Singapore.
“Currently, the R (reproduction rate) is more than 1. Cases are doubling every week and if we continue on this trajectory of infection, it means we could have 1,000 cases in two weeks, or possibly 2,000 cases in a month”. said Mr Wong.
He also said, “The more we are out and about, there is always a chance that we – by circulating around so much – may inadvertently become the source of the next superspreader event and we’re trying to ask people: Please hold back, particularly during this period when there are so many (COVID-19) cases and where the virus is spreading so quickly, just scale back… your social interactions,”
Condition of confirmed cases & progress of national vaccination programme
According to last night’s press release, 643 cases are currently warded in hospital. Most are well and under observation. There are currently 24 cases of serious illness requiring oxygen supplementation, and 6 in critical condition in the intensive care unit (ICU).
“As of 6 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.” said MOH.
It added, “As of 6 September 2021, we have administered a total of 8,804,737 doses of COVID-19 vaccines under the national vaccination programme (Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty and Moderna), covering 4,536,986 individuals, with 4,385,405 individuals having completed the full vaccination regimen.”
“In addition, 171,961 doses of other vaccines recognised in the World Health Organization’s Emergency Use Listing (WHO EUL) have been administered as of 6 September 2021, covering 86,204 individuals. In total, 81% of our population has completed their full regimen/ received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines, and 83% has received at least one dose.”
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.