Largest Cluster in S’pore With 1,155 Cases Closed; New Cluster At Religious School Detected

Yesterday, in the afternoon, a loud thud was heard across Singapore.

Some believed we were experiencing our first earthquake, while others thought we were getting attacked by aliens.

It turns out that the thud was just the sound of all residents in Singapore simultaneously collapsing to the floor after finding out how many new COVID-19 cases were reported yesterday.

The second thud was for unlinked cases.

Here are the details:

328 Locally Transmitted Cases; 185 Unlinked

328 locally transmitted cases were reported yesterday (7 Sep), including 185 unlinked cases.

This is our highest daily case count since 5 Aug 2020.

In addition, four imported infections were detected, two of whom were detected upon arrival. The other two developed the illness during their quarantine.

Community Cases Doubled in a Week

In the past week, a total of 1,489 new community cases were reported. This is more than double the 771 cases detected in the week before.

Similarly, the number of new unlinked cases has also shot up from 184 cases in the week before to 677 in the past week.

New Cluster at Religious School

A new cluster was identified by the Ministry of Health (MOH) at Madrasah Irsyad Zuhri Al-Islamiah – a religious school – situated along Braddell Road.

With six new infections yesterday, the cluster now has eight cases in total.

Bus Interchange Clusters Continue to Grow, Jurong Fishery Port Cluster Closed

The clusters linked to staff working at bus interchanges continue to grow, as five of the eight active clusters had new additions yesterday:

• Tampines Bus Interchange staff – three new cases, 41 in total
• Boon Lay Bus Interchange staff – six new cases, 136 in total
• Toa Payoh Bus Interchange staff – 13 new cases, 174 in total
• Clementi Bus Interchange staff – three new cases, 47 in total
• Jurong East Bus Interchange staff – three new cases, 42 in total

It wasn’t all bad news, though.

The Jurong Fishery Port/Hong Lim Market & Food Centre cluster, which was our biggest cluster for quite some time has finally been closed.

First reported on 16 July, it grew to 1,155 cases.

The cluster was closed after it had no new infections linked to it since 15 Aug. It was the largest community cluster in Singapore.

With the closure, we now have 53 active COVID-19 clusters.

643 Cases in Hospitals; 6 in ICU

At the moment, there are 643 COVID-19 cases in the hospital, most of whom are well and under observation.

24 severe cases require oxygen supplementation and six are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

Of these 30 cases, 22 are patients above the age of 60. 14 of them are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.

Currently, 81% of the population has been fully vaccinated, while 83% have received at least one dose.

Minister Lawrence Wong: ‘Don’t Rule Out CB Or Heightened Alert’ If ICU Numbers Increase

Yesterday, co-chair of the COVID-19 task force Lawerence Wong made a statement that we were dreading, but sort of expected.

“We hope that we can help to slow down transmission without having to go back to the heightened alert or the circuit breaker… but we should not rule them out entirely”.

Yes, a circuit breaker may be on the cards if our COVID-19 situation doesn’t improve.

It all depends on the number of cases in the intensive care unit, Mr Wong said.

“… if despite our best efforts, we continue to see, or we see serious cases in ICU or those needing oxygen going up sharply, then we may have no choice but to adopt a more tightened posture,” he said.

And as statistics in other countries have shown, when there is a sharp spike in the overall number of cases, a rise in cases in the intensive care unit will follow.

This is why the authorities have advised the public to cut down on social gatherings, so they won’t have to resort to these “last-resort” measures.

Read Also:

• Changes To COVID-19 Rules Simplified For You
• Younger Adults in S’pore Might Need A 3rd COVID-19 Vaccine Shot

Feature Image: Google Map