As of Thursday noon (8 Sep), the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed an additional 457 cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore.
This brings the total number of infection cases to 70,039.
MOH in its new daily update, shared that there are 108 seniors who are above 60 years among the new cases.
There are a total of seven imported cases, who have already been placed on Stay-Home Notice (SHN) or isolated upon arrival in Singapore. Of these, three were detected upon arrival in Singapore, while four developed the illness during SHN or isolation.
No info is being provided on the linked or unlinked cases.
MOH said in its daily press release on Wednesday (8 Sep) that it will no longer report the number of linked and unlinked new coronavirus cases as part of a revamp of its daily COVID-19 press releases.
This is to reflect “salient issues” as Singapore enters a “very different stage of our battle against COVID-19”, said MOH.
“We will … no longer provide information on the number of linked/unlinked cases as this is no longer as relevant as before, given our current strategy of living with COVID-19,”
It added: “Today, we are one of most highly vaccinated countries in the world, with 81 per cent of our population having fully completed their vaccinations.
“With a high vaccination rate, we have adjusted our measures to transit to a COVID-19 resilient nation.”
Last Friday, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung had said it was “timely” for MOH to revamp its daily COVID-19 reports.
“(We) are not chasing down every single case, which means unlinked numbers are also not as relevant as before,” said Mr Ong during a press conference by the COVID-19 multi-ministerial task force.
Condition of confirmed cases & progress of national vaccination programme
As of 9 September 2021, 12pm, 664 COVID-19 cases are currently warded in hospital. Most are well and under observation. There are currently 26 cases of serious illness requiring oxygen supplementation, and 7 in critical condition in the ICU. Of those who have fallen very ill, 28 are seniors above 60 years.
Case 65636, a 62 year-old male Singaporean, has passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection on 6 September 2021. He had been conveyed to Singapore General Hospital for an unrelated medical condition on 20 July and tested positive for COVID-19 infection on 21 July. He had not been vaccinated against COVID-19, and had a history of cancer and bronchiectasis. In total, 57 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection.
“As of 8 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.
“We have administered a total of 8,823,534 doses of COVID-19 vaccines under the national vaccination programme (Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty and Moderna), covering 4,544,155 individuals, with 4,396,578 individuals having completed the full vaccination regimen. In addition, 175,027 doses of other vaccines recognised in the World Health Organization’s Emergency Use Listing (WHO EUL) have been administered, covering 86,379 individuals.”
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.
