Singapore sees 11,934 new Covid-19 cases, more than double Monday's figure

SINGAPORE - There were 11,934 new Covid-19 infections on Tuesday (Oct 18), more than double the 5,196 new cases on Monday.

Tuesday’s new cases were slightly higher than a week ago, when Singapore recorded 11,732 cases.

There are 661 Covid-19 patients currently being hospitalised - up from 490 patients a week ago. Of these, 58 patients need oxygen supplementation and 14 are in the Intensive Care Unit, the Ministry of Health (MOH) added.

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Tuesday evening that the latest Covid-19 numbers were not substantially higher than that of a week ago, and that MOH will continue to monitor the epidemic wave closely.

Case numbers on Tuesdays tend to be higher compared with the rest of the week as they reflect the spike in infections after the weekend, when more people are out in various social settings.

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People tend to put off going to the doctor until after the weekend, he noted. “Hopefully we are near or at the peak of the wave,” he wrote on Facebook.

Singapore is currently undergoing a wave of infections driven by the XBB variant, an Omicron subvariant. Last Saturday, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said at a press conference that the wave is expected to peak at about 15,000 daily cases by about mid-November.

MOH has urged seniors and immuno-compromised people to continue wearing masks in crowded indoor settings.

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Members of the public should also not go to the hospital emergency departments, unless they have emergency conditions.

To relieve the load on general practitioner clinics and polyclinics here, employers have been urged not to require medical certificates from employees who have self-tested positive for Covid-19 or have symptoms of acute respiratory infection.

Of the new local Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, 10,837 were detected through antigen rapid tests (ART). Another 716 were detected through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.

There were 381 new imported cases, with 15 detected through PCR tests and 366 through ART.

There were also five deaths reported. Singapore has recorded a total of 2,029,195 Covid-19 cases, and 1,651 deaths.

ALSO READ: Singapore's Covid-19 XBB infections to peak in mid-November, cannot rule out bringing back mask rules

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.