3,474 COVID-19 Cases Reported on 17 Nov With 7 New Deaths

Shawn Ambrose

2021-11-18 , 8:16 am

Well, it was nice while it lasted.

Case numbers had gone down in the past few days, with it staying at around 2,000 for two days in a row.

But like it seemingly always does, it shot back up again just when we thought it would finally stabilise.

3,474 New COVID-Cases

3,474 new COVID-19 cases were reported yesterday (17 Nov), a decrease of 505 from the previous day’s tally.

With this, our weekly infection growth rate went up slightly to 0.89 from 0.88 on Tuesday (16 Nov).

The cases comprise 3,320 infections in the community, 144 in migrant worker dormitories, and ten imported infections.

Among the local cases are 506 seniors above 60.

Sadly, more people succumbed to the virus.

7 COVID-19 Fatalities

Seven more COVID-19 cases passed away from complications, bringing our death toll to 619.

Aged between 47 and 83, all of them had various underlying medical conditions.

MOH Closely Monitoring 9 Large Clusters

The Ministry of Health (MOH) is closely monitoring five large clusters with new cases, the largest of which is at Banyan Home @ Pelangi Village, with 108 infections. 107 residents and one staff member have been infected there.

Three cases each was added to the clusters at ECON Medicare Centre & Nursing Home (Choa Chu Kang) and PCF Sparkletots @ Chong Pang Block 115B, bringing their respective totals to 10 and 18.

All infections are residents at the nursing home, while eight students have been infected at the childcare centre.

Two cases were also linked to Iman Childcare in Woodgrove, taking its total to 34. Of the 34 cases, six are staff, 22 are students and six are household contacts of cases.

The Jamiyah Nursing Home cluster grew to 27 after seven more were added to it. All cases at the home are residents.

One case each was also linked to each of the following clusters:

Carpe Diem @ ITE – 19 cases
Jenaris Home @ Pelangi Village – 64 cases
NTUC Health Nursing Home (Chai Chee) – 19 cases
MWS Nursing Home – Yew Tee – 19 cases

1,468 COVID-19 Cases in Hopsital; 112 in ICU

At the moment, there are 1,468 COVID-19 cases warded in hospitals, most of whom are well and under observation.

242 serious cases require oxygen supplementation and 112 are in the intensive care unit, comprising 48 cases who are unstable and under close monitoring, and 64 who are critically ill and intubated.

Over the past seven days, the number of fully vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated cases who have been critically ill in the ICU are at 0.6 and 5.2 per 100,000 population respectively.

The same figures for seniors aged 60 and above are 2.0 and 46.3 respectively.

Over the same period, the number of fully vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated cases who died are 0.1 and 0.9 per 100,000 population respectively.

The same figures for seniors aged 60 and above are 0.3 and 9.6 respectively.

Currently, 85% of our population has been fully vaccinated and 86% have received at least one dose. 21% have received their booster shots.

Lianhua Qingwen Not an Approved COVID-19 Treatment

The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) has warned that Lianhua Qingwen, a Chinese medicine, has not been approved for COVID-19 treatment.

Claims that the medicine can treat or prevent COVID-19 have been circulating on social media and Telegram.

“Some Lianhua Qingwen products are listed as Chinese proprietary medicines in Singapore for the relief of cold and flu symptoms. HSA approved them based on the documented uses of the ingredients present in the products,” it said.

“To date, there is no scientific evidence from randomised clinical trials to show that any herbal product, including Lianhua Qingwen products, can be used to prevent or treat COVID-19.”

It warned the public not to fall prey to unsubstantiated claims or spread unfounded rumours that herbal products can be used to prevent or treat COVID-19.