News

Record 2,236 COVID-19 Cases Reported on 28 Sept With 5 New Deaths

2021-09-29 , 8:13 am

While we’re used to it now, the wave of bad news that hit us yesterday seemed more forceful than ever.

COVID-19 cases finally crossed the 2,000 mark, and worse, five people died from the disease.

Here are the details:

5 COVID-19 Fatalities; Two Fully Vaccinated

The five cases who succumbed to the virus included four men aged 69, 73, 74, and 79 and a 77-year-old woman.

Two of them had been unvaccinated, one had been partially inoculated, while the remaining two had been fully vaccinated.

All cases had suffered from underlying medical conditions.

In September alone, 30 deaths have been reported, a new monthly record. In total, 85 COVID-19 cases here have died from the virus.

2,236 New COVID-19 Cases

A record 2,236 new COVID-19 cases were reported yesterday, the first time since COVID-19 emerged that cases here have surpassed 2,000.

The tally includes 1,711 in the community and 515 among dormitory residents. Among the local cases were 483 seniors above the age of 60.

In addition, 10 imported cases were detected; six tested positive on arrival while the other four developed the illness during isolation.

New Cluster at Elderly Day Care Centre

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has discovered a new cluster at Man Fatt Lam Elderly Joy Daycare Centre, situated along 20 Jln Langgar Bedok.

11 cases have been detected so far, comprising 10 clients and one staff member.

The centre has been closed since 25 Sep, MOH said.

The Blue Stars Dormitory cluster continues to grow, as it swelled to 401 infections after 20 more cases were discovered.

Six more cases were also linked to the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, which now has 106 cases.

In total, the health ministry is monitoring 11 large active clusters.

1,325 COVID-19 Cases in Hospitals; 30 in ICU

At the moment, there are 1,325 COVID-19 cases warded in hospitals, most of whom are well and under observation.

209 severe cases require oxygen supplementation and 30 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

Of these serious cases, 201 are seniors above the age of 60.

Over the last four weeks, 98% of the local cases were either asymptomatic or had mild symptoms.

As of Monday (27 Sep), 82% of our population has been fully vaccinated. 84% have received at least one dose.

Reasons for Latest Restrictions

In a recent interview with Bloomberg Television, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong explained why the latest round of COVID-19 restrictions was necessary.

He said that the healthcare system and its workers have been facing tremendous pressures and stresses.

“With these temporary restrictions now, we are going all out to stabilise our healthcare protocols and augment our healthcare capacity.”

By slowing the pace with which the virus spreads, we can keep our healthcare system intact and under control, he added.

“We want to avoid unnecessary deaths that may arise when the entire healthcare system gets overwhelmed.”

The restrictions, which include restricted dining-in, social gatherings, and daily household visitors to groups of two, are expected to end on 24 Oct.