Covid-19: Record 185 unlinked infections; new cluster detected at madrasah

• There were 332 new Covid-19 cases reported on Sept 7, the highest since Aug 5, 2020
• Of these, a record 185 were locally transmitted cases not linked to reported infections
• A total of 537 infected people are now linked to eight bus interchange clusters
• There was one new cluster linked to Madrasah Irsyad Zuhri Al-Islamiah on Braddell Road with eight cases
• The cluster linked to the Jurong Fishery Port has closed, with 1,155 cases at last count

SINGAPORE — There were 328 new locally transmitted cases of Covid-19 reported on Tuesday (Sept 7), including a record 185 that had no known sources of infection.

The 185 unlinked cases for the day is the highest since such figures have been disclosed by the authorities. The previous highest was 116 on Sept 4.

Along with four imported cases, the country recorded a total of 332 new cases of Covid-19, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said.

This is the highest number of new cases recorded here since Aug 5 last year, when 908 infections were reported.

In its nightly update on the coronavirus situation, MOH said that there was a new cluster linked to Madrasah Irsyad Zuhri Al-Islamiah along Braddell Road. There were eight cases linked to the institution as of Tuesday after six more people were found to be infected.

Of the day’s new locally transmitted cases, 28 have been traced to bus interchanges, making it 537 cases in all for these clusters.

SERIOUSLY ILL

Data from MOH showed that the number of patients who are in serious condition and need oxygen support to help them breathe has risen to 24, up from 21 the day before.

There are also six patients who are in intensive care units, similar to the day before.

Among the six patients under intensive care and 24 with serious illness, 10 are fully vaccinated.

Of those who have fallen very ill, 22 are patients aged over 60, of whom 14 are not vaccinated or partially vaccinated.

MOH stressed that there is continuing evidence that “almost all fully vaccinated individuals do not suffer serious disease when infected unless they had underlying medical conditions that made them more susceptible”.

Over the last 28 days, the percentage of unvaccinated who became severely ill or died is 6.1 per cent, while that for the fully vaccinated is 0.8 per cent.

There are 643 Covid-19 patients who are hospitalised as of Tuesday, up from 637 the day before.

53 ACTIVE CLUSTERS

One cluster has been closed — the Jurong Fishery Port, which had been the largest active cluster with 1,155 cases.

With that, there are now 53 active Covid-19 clusters here, each having between three and 291 cases.

Thirteen more cases were added to the cluster at Toa Payoh Bus Interchange, bringing the total there to 174. It is the largest among the various interchange clusters.

For the rest of the interchanges:

• Boon Lay has 136 cases after six new cases were detected

• Clementi has 47 after adding three

• Jurong East has 42 after adding three

• Tampines has 41 after adding three

The Bugis Junction mall cluster has grown to 291 cases with seven more added, while there were three more cases detected at Changi General Hospital. The hospital now has 54 cases.

For the four imported cases, two were detected on arrival and the other two developed the illness while in isolation.

Of the 143 locally transmitted infections linked to confirmed cases, 91 had already been quarantined and 52 were detected through surveillance testing.

Among the cases are four seniors above the age of 70 who are not vaccinated or partially vaccinated, and are at risk of serious illness.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has nearly doubled from 771 cases in the week before to 1,489 in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also jumped from 184 in the week before to 677 in the past week.

Singapore has recorded a total of 69,233 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic.

VACCINATIONS

As of Sept 6, 81 per cent of the population had completed their full regimen or received two doses of Covid-19 vaccines, and 83 per cent had received at least one dose.

For other vaccines recognised in the World Health Organization’s Emergency Use Listing such as Sinovac, 171,961 doses had been administered as of Sept 6, covering 86,204 individuals.