Singapore's Health Minister has said that 15,000-20,000 infections per day is something within expectations in the city-state and the recent rise in COVID-19 cases was not unexpected given that the Omicron variant is highly transmissible. On Saturday, Singapore reported 10,505 new COVID-19 cases, the fourth time this week that daily infections have exceeded the 10,000 mark. It also reported eight deaths linked to the virus.
"Omicron is highly transmissible so reaching 15,000-20,000 or more is something within our expectations. So far, it's been that. It's been staying around 10,000 for some days, which gives us some comfort," Channel News Asia quoted Health Minister Ong Ye Kung as saying on Saturday. Despite the increase in cases, Ong noted that the city state's healthcare system is still holding up.
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"But as we have mentioned many times, the top line is much less important. The top line is important in the sense that we know where we are on the epidemic curve, that is still important information. But what's more important is the impact on the healthcare capacity," said Ong. "The percentage of people requiring oxygen has remained the same. So the numbers have not changed. The number of patients that require oxygen remains at 0.3 per cent. (The) number of patients that needed ICU, or unfortunately passed away is about 0.05 per cent. So we are looking at a level much much lower than Delta, so our healthcare system is still holding up," the Health Minister said.
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He added that although there has been an increase in the number of people visiting general practitioners (GPs) due to COVID-19, many of them had "mild or no symptoms" and are visiting clinics for various reasons. The weekly infection growth rate is 1.54, down from Friday's 1.74, according to the latest infection statistics on the Ministry of Health (MOH) website.
The 10,505 new COVID-19 cases reported on Saturday, comprised 10,325 local infections and 180 imported or arrivals from abroad. The eight fatalities reported on Saturday is the highest number in more than two months. As of Saturday, Singapore has recorded 460,075 COVID-19 cases and 893 deaths linked to the virus since the start of the pandemic.
With AP Inputs
