3,439 new Covid-19 cases in S’pore; 16 more deaths bring tally to 280

• There were 3,439 new Covid-19 cases reported on Oct 21
• Sixteen deaths were registered for the day, bringing the tally thus far to 280
• There were 61 patients requiring intensive care, a dip from the 67 reported the day before
• Singapore has logged a total of 162,026 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic

SINGAPORE — Singapore on Thursday (Oct 21) registered 3,439 new cases of Covid-19 and 16 more deaths due to complications from the disease.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its nightly update on the coronavirus situation here that there were 61 Covid-19 patients in the intensive care unit (ICU), six fewer than the day before.

The number of patients who require oxygen support however went up from 337 on Wednesday to 346 on Thursday.

Among the new infections logged here on Thursday, 2,937 were in the community, 500 were made up of migrant worker dormitory residents and the remaining two were imported ones.

Among the local cases were 492 seniors above the age of 60, MOH said.

The 16 who died comprised 11 men who were Singaporeans or permanent residents as well as four Singaporean women. The remaining person who died was a male Malaysian work permit holder.

They were all aged between 61 and 93, MOH said.

Among them, eight had not been vaccinated against Covid-19, one was partially vaccinated and the remaining seven were fully vaccinated.

“Fifteen of them had various underlying medical conditions, while a vaccinated case had no known medical conditions,” the ministry said.

In total, 280 people here have died from complications due to the coronavirus, including 179 this month alone.

LOCAL SITUATION

Singapore has logged a total of 162,026 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic last year.

As of Thursday, there are 1,613 patients who are in hospital, 105 fewer than the day before.

Among all Covid-19 community cases who have been onboarded or admitted:

• 17,617, or 72.4 per cent of them, are undergoing home recovery

• 4,223 (17.4 per cent) are in community care facilities

• 1,613 (6.6 per cent) are in hospital, mostly for observation

• 880 (3.6 per cent) are in Covid-19 treatment facilities

MOH said that over the last 28 days, the percentage of local cases who had mild or no symptoms is 98.6 per cent.

• During the same period, 1.0 per cent of cases required oxygen aid and 0.1 per cent had been warded in ICUs

• Of these, 47.1 per cent were fully vaccinated and 52.9 per cent were not vaccinated or partially vaccinated

• Among those who have passed away in the past 28 days, 31.4 per cent were fully vaccinated and 68.6 per cent were not vaccinated or partially vaccinated

CLUSTERS UNDER MONITORING

Among large clusters that are being closely monitored by the ministry, eight had new cases, MOH said on Thursday. This was four more clusters compared to Wednesday.

A total of 30 new infections were added to these eight large clusters.

Notably, there were 17 new infections linked to the Bukit Batok Home for the Aged, bringing the tally there to 109 thus far. MOH said that of the 109 cases, 107 are residents there and the remaining two are workers.

VACCINATIONS

As of Oct 20, 84 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated, and 85 per cent has received at least one dose.

A total of​​ 9,701,329 doses of Covid-19 vaccines under the national vaccination programme (Pfizer-BioNTech or Comirnaty and Moderna) have been administered.

So far, 4,625,367 people have received at least one dose of vaccine under the national vaccination programme, and 4,567,666 individuals have completed the full vaccination regimen.

MOH added that to date, it has invited about 850,000 eligible people to receive their vaccine booster.

It said that 637,326 individuals have received their booster shots and another 98,000 have booked their appointments.

In addition, 230,651 doses of other vaccines such as Sinovac that are recognised in the World Health Organization’s Emergency Use Listing have been administered, covering 119,711 individuals.