1,324 COVID-19 Cases Reported on 1 Dec With Higher ICU Utilisation Rate

2021-12-02 , 9:21 am

For the third day in a row, the number of new COVID-19 cases grew.

Well, that sounded serious; but the silver lining is, it’s still under 1,500.

Meanwhile, the infection rate reported yesterday is 0.67, a tad higher than the day before but still lower than Monday’s (0.69).

If you missed the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) update on our COVID-19 situation yesterday, here’s everything you need to know:

1,324 COVID-19 Cases Reported on 1 Dec

On 1 Dec 2021, 1,324 new COVID-19 cases were reported.

This number includes:

200 out of the community cases are elderly aged 60 and above.

The infection rate on 1 Dec 2021 is 0.67%.

This is the 19th day in a row Singapore has an infection growth rate under 1.

Eight more have succumbed to complications from COVID-19.

This brings the total number of deaths due to COVID-19 up to 726.

Aged between 59 and 86 years old, all of them, except for one unvaccinated individual, had underlying medical conditions.

According to MOH’s situation report, there are 993 COVID-19 patients in the general ward, and 61 in the ICU.

206 requires oxygen supplementation in the general ward and 61 are critically ill and being intubated in the ICU.

The ICU utilisation rate on 1 Dec 2021 is 59.7%, up from 58.5% on Tuesday.

1,535 COVID-19 patients have been discharged from the hospital; 289 of them are seniors aged 60 and above.

As of 1 Dec 2021, 96% of the eligible population (people who can take the vaccination jabs) are fully vaccinated.

Translating that to the entire population, that’s 87%.

Meanwhile, 27% has received their booster shots.

While Singapore has not experienced the Omicron variant of the coronavirus yet, the authorities believe it’s a matter of time.

To buy time as we find out more about Omicron, the authorities are making several “pre-emptive moves”, including:

Disallowing those suspected of carrying the Omicron variant from undergoing home recovery – they will be taken to NCID instead
Conducting full contact tracing for Omicron cases
Placing close contacts on a 10-day quarantine at designated facilities
Putting a pause on the easing of COVID-19 restrictions

Mr Gan explained that these measures will allow the authorities to detect Omicron cases quickly, so they can be contained earlier.