SINGAPORE, Aug 24 — Singapore yesterday (August 23) recorded 94 new locally transmitted Covid-19 cases, including 19 that are not linked to earlier detected infections.
The 94 locally transmitted cases are the highest figure since August 5, when 96 of such infections were reported.
The Ministry of Health (MoH) said in its nightly update of the coronavirus situation here that of the 94 cases, 59 have been linked to the North Coast Lodge, a foreign worker dormitory in Woodlands. The cluster has 62 cases thus far.
They were detected through testing operations conducted from August 21 after three residents there tested positive for Covid-19 during their rostered routine testing.
MOoH said that so far, about 2,200 workers have been swabbed and testing for the rest of the 3,200 residents is ongoing.
The ministry stressed that all residents at the dormitory have been placed on movement restriction order as a “precautionary measure”, adding that the confirmed cases are “mostly asymptomatic or have mild symptoms”.
Of the remaining locally transmitted cases, 16 are linked to previous infections and had already been placed under quarantine.
Among the cases are two seniors aged above 70 who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, and are at risk of serious illness, MoH said earlier.
Besides the locally transmitted cases, there are four imported cases, making a total of 98 new Covid-19 cases confirmed yesterday.
Two of the imported cases were detected on arrival in Singapore and the remaining two developed the illness during stay-home notice or in isolation.
The total number of Covid-19 cases in Singapore is now 66,576.
Overall, MoH said that the number of new cases in the community has decreased from 331 in the week before to 240 in the past week.
The number of cases with no known links in the community has, however, gone up from 83 in the week before to 101 in the past week.
In addition, two Covid-19 clusters have closed, bringing the number of active clusters here to 70.
Hospitalised cases
There are currently 336 patients who are warded in hospitals, MoH said.
Data from the ministry showed that the number of patients who are in intensive care units (ICUs) has remained constant at seven since August 20.
There are 21 patients who are seriously ill and need oxygen support to help them breathe, a slight dip from the 22 reported the day before.
Among these 21 patients and the seven under intensive care, four are fully vaccinated.
Of those who have fallen very ill, 22 are patients aged above 60, of whom 18 are completely unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.
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 1.7 per cent, MOH said.
Vaccinations
As of August 22, 78 per cent of the population had completed their full regimen or received two doses of Covid-19 vaccines, and 82 per cent had received at least one dose.
For other vaccines recognised in the World Health Organisation’s Emergency Use Listing such as Sinovac, 159,438 doses had been administered as of August 22, covering 84,982 individuals. ― TODAY
