News

Sole New Cluster on 21 Aug is Linked to an Individual; Half of the Community Cases Were Unlinked

2021-08-22 , 10:12 am

A few months ago, hearing that 32 new locally transmitted infections were reported in a day would have made our eyes widen and our hearts stop for a bit.

But after experiencing hundreds of new cases recently, 32 seems like a rather low number.

That was our daily case count for yesterday (21 Aug), which would have been good news, were it not for the fact that half of them were unlinked.

Here are the details:

1 New Cluster; 2 Clusters Closed

One new COVID-19 cluster was reported by the Ministry of Health (MOH) yesterday, linked to an individual case.

Named after Case 68646, the cluster has four infections. MOH didn’t provide any further specifics.

Two clusters were also closed, meaning we now have 76 active clusters, ranging between 3 and 1,155 infections.

Our biggest cluster is still the one linked to Jurong Fishery Port/ Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, which hasn’t had any new infections for a significant period of time.

364 Cases in Hospital; 7 in ICU

At the moment, 364 COVID-19 cases are in hospitals, most of whom are well and under observation.

22 severe cases currently require oxygen supplementation while seven are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

Of these 29 cases, 23 are above 60, five of whom are fully vaccinated.

The percentage of unvaccinated cases who became severely ill or died in the last 28 days was 8.8%, compared to 1.7% for vaccinated patients.

Vaccination Progress: 78%

We were stuck at 77% for a few days, but our vaccinated rate has finally climbed to 78%, with 82% having received at least one dose.

This includes 84,345 recipients of other vaccines recognised in the World Health Organization’s Emergency Use Listing.

As you know, all Singaporeans, permanent residents, and long-term pass holders can walk into any vaccination centre now without making an appointment to get their jab.

59 People Fined For COVID-19 Breaches

Whether our cases are in the hundreds, the sixties, or fifties, you can always bet on one thing; people will break COVID-19 rules.

59 people were fined recently for COVID-19 breaches, the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) said on Friday (20 Aug).

Eight F&B outlets were also ordered to close for between 10 and 20 days for breaches including liquor consumption past 10:30pm and a failure to ensure that groups of diners were separated by a safe distance.

The 59 people were fined between S$300 and S$1,000 each for various offences, including failing to wear a mask at all times at eateries, and gathering in larger groups than permitted.

Breaches of Vaccination-Differentiated Measures Detected

In addition, checks by safe distancing officers found instances of non-compliance with vaccination-differentiated safe management measures.

Some eateries had failed to check patrons’ vaccination status, and nine customers were found to have dined in without having a cleared vaccination status.

Most of them had received two doses, but hadn’t waited the two weeks required for official certification.

Operators and patrons were let off the hook, however, as as it was the first week of implementation, the ministry said.

But from this weekend, strict enforcement action will be taken against those who flout the measures, it added.

Errant operators could be forced to close, while patrons could be fined or even jailed.

Understand the importance of vaccination here: